Best Served Cold
by MandyLeigh87
Summary: All Human. Bella is an undercover cop working to take down the Volturi mob family. Sexy Mobward included. E/B
1. That's Being a Cop

"Carlisle I can do this. I'm qualified for the job and you know it. The only reason you're hesitating is because of my dad." I was frustrated beyond words, beyond understanding. Unbelievable.

"You are very qualified for this job, but this is a very serious situation."

I turned and stomped off. I knew it was childish and totally unprofessional, but I was sick and tired of my dad cock-blocking my job. I was the youngest person to graduate from the academy with the highest G.P.A. mind you, and youngest person to get a job like this in the DEA, yet I sit on my ass behind a desk everyday waiting for my first big job.

When your overprotective father was the Chief of Police in New York City, he had a little bit of influence in the government. And when this little bit of influence doesn't want his daughter out in the field, she doesn't go out in the field. I didn't work this hard in school to sit and shuffle through paperwork. I was trained for undercover work and gun handling. I know all the procedures better than almost all of the overweight assholes that were out doing everything I wanted to be doing.

I sat down on my desk and spun around in my chair. My eyes fixed on the photograph sitting next to my computer. My finger reached out and lovingly stroked the face pictured next to mine, his smile wide and happy. It was on the day of our graduation from the academy. His hat was tipped to the side and my face was turned towards his, laughing. Warm tears started to form in the corner of my eyes.

"Agent Swan." I closed my eyes as Captain Cullen entered my office. "I know that this case is…very personal for you. I just don't know if you're ready to be out there yet. It's only been three months."

"Sitting at a desk all day isn't helping me." I opened my eyes and stared at the face in the photograph again.

"We all lost him that day Bella, it wasn't just you."

"Carlisle I am going absolutely insane. I need to get out of here."

"I'll see what I can do." I'd heard that before. That was always his answer to everything. He'd see what he could do, and he didn't do much. Especially since the case was in my dad's jurisdiction.

I picked up the phone and dialed my mom's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom." I leaned back in my chair.

"Hey baby. What's going on with you?"

"Dealing with Charlie's stubborn ass. Like usual."

"I'm sorry sweetheart. You know he's just looking out for you."

"I'm not a little kid anymore Mom. He needs to stop trying to protect me all the time."

"Bella he's your father. He's never going to stop protecting you."

"I'm just trying to do my job Mom. And I can't do that if he's being Cop Dad twenty four seven. I chose this job, he has to accept that."

"I know you're frustrated sweetie, just keep up the hard work for a little bit longer, I'm sure they'll realize how kick ass you are at your job….What Phil? Just put some ice on it...Bella I'm sorry I have to go. I'll talk to you soon." The line went dead.

I stood up and decided to make my way across the treacherous main floor to the coffee room. I say treacherous because it truly was when you were the only female agent in the entire office. I've been called Agent Legs and Agent Boobs and been subjected to numerous cat calls by my "colleagues." Today was no different. There was mindless chatter filtering into the coffee room in everything ranging from last night's basketball game to the new bar downtown.

I shook my head as I took a sip of coffee. I decided since I was over on this side of the office I should go to the bathroom. This was the nice part of being the only woman in the office; I pretty much had my own bathroom. I looked myself over in the mirror. My black pencil skirt was immaculately wrinkle free. I adjusted my shirt slightly. My mind wandered as I contemplated over the buttons at the top. They called me Agent Boobs anyway, why not work it to my advantage. I undid one button, then another, making sure that my cleavage was peeping out the top. I pulled my hair down from the low bun it had been in to let if flow freely down my back. I shook it out one last time before exiting the bathroom.

The office had turned silent, which wasn't a usual occurrence. I stepped into the silence and right into the middle of Carlisle speaking. His eyes were full of strain and stress.

"…his body was found earlier this morning…"

My mind flew back to that day three months ago when he had uttered those same words to me. I remembered collapsing on the floor, screaming when anyone tried to touch me. I forced myself to refocus on the here and now.

"Agent Newton was a great asset to this agency and an all around good guy. He will be sorely missed."

Carlisle stepped back into his office and closed the door.

Newton. He was involved with the Volturi family case. The Volturi was the most powerful mob family in the country. They made most of their money off of drugs, which was why we were so involved in the case…why the man in my photograph was involved in the case. We'd been trying to bring them down for years, sending out agents in undercover. They had a tendency to end up dead.

I stormed into Carlisle's office, not bothering to knock.

"They killed him didn't they? James and Victoria? They killed him just like they killed…"

"Bella just calm down." Carlisle put his hands up, trying to calm me down.

"No. I will not calm down. This is fucked up Carlisle and you know it. We keep sending in agents who don't know what they're doing and they're getting themselves killed. I know this job inside and out. I eat, sleep, breathe it. I can do this. I can finish this. Please give me that chance."

He tapped his pen on his desk. He knew everything I said was true.

"Give me a minute."

I stepped out of his office and sat in the chair next to his door.

I heard him pick up the phone and dial.

"Charlie, it's Carlisle….Yeah they found him this morning…We're doing the best that we can Charlie…Listen, I'm sending her in." My heart started to accelerate. "Now calm down Charlie. She's the best agent I have. I can't keep sending blind men in there and sit and wait for their bodies to turn up."

There was a long pause.

"Three months?" Another long pause. "Agreed….Okay. Bye."

I was almost jumping out of my chair,

"Agent Swan. Could you come in here please?"

I got up and walked confidently into his office.

"You'll begin briefing in a month. We'll be shooting for three months for placement."

I held in my urge to jump up and down.

"Thank you Carlisle." I turned and walked out of his office.

I left the office and started towards the cemetery. It was probably the last time I'd be able to visit him before I launched into training. Going undercover was an intensive process. I needed an alias, a back-story, a change in appearance, new residence, new I.D.'s, new everything.

The cemetery was completely empty, except for the few squirrels and birds running about. The headstone stood on top of a small hill, the sun glistening off the marble. I slowly climbed up the slope and sat at the small bench across from the headstone. I remembered burying him here. It was rainy that day, so rainy that a light mist surrounded the grounds. I was silent the entire day, not knowing what to say or what to do. My dad was there and Captain Cullen was there, in fact the entire office was there.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

"Hi Dad."

"Bella I need to talk to you about this. I need you to understand this is very…"

"Dangerous. I know Dad."

"What are you doing? Where are you? Can you meet me?"

"I'm…I'm at the cemetery visiting. I thought it might be awhile before I can make it back here."

"Oh sorry for calling honey. You take your time and give me a call when you're done."

"Okay I will. Bye."

I hung up the phone and got off the bench, walking towards the headstone. My fingers ran along the top as I crouched down and sat on the grass.

"Hey. It's me. I just wanted to come and see you since I won't be back here for a while. They're…they're actually letting me go in there. I know, I know you'd be fighting me tooth and nail on this but I need to do it. They took you away from me and now I have to do something. It's time for them to pay for it." I looked up at the other headstones in the cemetery. "I'm tired of burying good cops, and people that I love. It has to stop now." I bent down and kissed the headstone as I got up. "Love you always Jake." I walked away from my best friend as a single tear ran down my cheek, not knowing when or if I'll ever be back to this place, because I was going to risk my life to bring him justice, to bring all of them justice. It was my job as a cop and a best friend. Revenge was a dish best served cold. And this was for revenge, among other things. Yeah I'd like to see scumbags like the Volturi behind bars for the rest of their lives, but I needed to do this for Jake. He was the driving force that was keeping me going.

An hour later I was meeting my dad in his office.

"Now Bella you know you can't start right away. You need to be briefed and prepared for this. It's a very detailed thing. We have to make sure everything is flawless. And plus they just killed one of your guys, they'll be suspicious of new people."

"I know Dad."

"Okay I know that Carlisle said that you wouldn't start briefing for another month while we put some things together, but I pulled the file for you. I want you to start studying it so there are no surprises. I want you to know this family in and out. If one of them takes a shit I want you to be able to know who it was."

"That's gross Dad." I scrunched my nose up. I knew he was just using it to emphasize his point but still.

"That's being a cop."

The case file lay on my bathroom floor as I soaked in the bathtub later that night. I felt like it was staring at me, trying to persuade me to flip through the pages. I knew I needed to; it was part of my job. But opening up that file meant opening up wounds that weren't quite healed yet. It meant opening myself up to the pain of losing my best friend again, it would make it all real again.

I sighed and reached for the folder, careful not to drop it all into the bathwater. My fingers flipped the folder open to the front page. A picture was paper clipped to the first page. Carlisle stood, his hands on his hips, looking down at a bloodied sheet. A whoosh of air flew out of my lungs as the tears fell down my cheek. I closed the folder and threw it across the room. It landed against the wall with a thud.

I bent my head back, the tears lulling me to sleep in the warm water.

"I'm going in Chief," Jake said over the radio. The wire he was wearing was coming in clear.

"You're clear Black, just get the stuff and get out of there. We don't want you in there longer than needed," Carlisle whispered into the radio.

I sat nervously in the car with Carlisle outside of a dark warehouse. My leg bounced impatiently up and down and my fingers tapped against my temple. Just this one last time, I thought. As soon as Jake got this evidence out he'd be done with this job, we'd be done with this job, and the Volturi family would be in prison for the rest of their pathetic lives.

"Connor man, what's up?" Demetri, one of the Volturi's bodyguards, must have been standing guard over the shipment. I held my breath, hoping he wouldn't be suspicious of Jake's presence here. It wasn't like Jake was new to the family. He'd been undercover with them for over 6 months as Connor. Connor's specialty was money. He knew what to do with it, how to make it disappear, and how to make it. In mob-speak, an "earner." You pick up on the lingo after being exposed to it for a while.

"Demetri." There was a clap that sounded like a high five. "How's it going? Is the boss man here, I just wanted to make sure the shipment came in alright."

"Yeah he's here. He's in his office. Go on up."

"Alright buddy I'll see ya later." Jake was so good at this, acting natural in a high-pressure situation. This all seemed totally natural to him, and good thing it was or else he'd be in a load of trouble right now.

There were a few loud thuds as Jake ascended the stairs up to Aro's office. He was the boss. He ran everything in the family business. His brothers, Marcus and Caius, definitely held influence over everything, but Aro was the kingpin.

"Hey boss."

"Connor. Delighted to see you." There was some shuffling of papers.

"Did everything go as planned with the latest shipment?"

"Yes it's just arrived. Good work son. Would you like to take a look?" This was good. He trusted Jake. He'd never actually let him in the shipment room before.

"I'd love to. I always like to see the spoils of my hard work." Jake laughed.

They must have left Aro's office because I heard the loud thud of the stairs again. There was a sharp screech, which I guessed to be the opening of a large warehouse door.

"There it is." Aro said proudly.

"Great." Jake must have adjusted the tie he was wearing, because we got our first image from the microscopic camera he was wearing. The images of the mountain of drugs flashed on the computer screen. They walked all around the shipment, Jake snapping shots at will.

"Great job, Black. We got em. Now get out of there." Carlisle and I smiled at each other. This was huge. We could finally prosecute.

"Well boss I'm glad to see everything arrived safely. If you'd excuse me I have some other business to attend to. See you tomorrow at the dinner banquet?"

"Sure Connor. Have a lovely evening."

I heard Jake exhale as he turned and began walking out.

"Oh one more thing Connor? Did you get all the pictures you needed?"

I heard the screeching of the door again. This was really bad. They knew.

Jake's breathing sped up. He knew something was wrong. "Get out of here Chief, now," he whispered into the wire.

I looked at Carlisle, completely panicked.

"We're not leaving in him there!"

"Swan, he knows what's best. We can't lose this evidence....Copy that Black."

Carlisle's foot pressed down on the gas as we sped away.

"Carlisle...NO! We have to go back! They're going to kill him!"

"Bella, Jake's a good cop. He can take care of himself."

The warm tears started to streak down my face.

"No! Turn the fucking car around! Right now!" I grabbed at the steering wheel.

"Bella stop!"

I heard the gunshots but I didn't realize that we were the ones being shot at. The glass of the windows began shattering all around me. The car swerved and started streaking down the road sideways. I screamed as we smashed into a brick wall.

The next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital bed, my father hovering over me.

"Bells?"

"Dad?" I was disoriented and groggy. It took me a few minutes to realize where I was.

"What happened?"

"You and Carlisle were waiting for Jake outside of the warehouse. They must have gotten tipped off that you were there because one of their cars starting shooting at you. Thankfully backup showed up right as you crashed into the wall. The Volturi car drove off."

Everything was starting coming back to me, especially the panic.

"Dad where's Jake? Did he get out?"

He shuffled his feet and looked down as he put his hands on his hips.

"Bells we lost contact with Jake right after you guys sped off. We haven't….we haven't heard anything from him. That was five hours ago."

I sat straight up in the bed, the IVs and tubes pulling at me.

"Then why the hell aren't you out looking for him?!"

"Bella calm down. You're going to hurt yourself."

I started tugging at the tubes.

"Fine! If you won't go get him, I will. I'm perfectly fine, get me out of here!"

"Bella you had a concussion they aren't going to release you tonight."

"Dad! It's Jake!" I stopped and just let the tears fall. Why didn't he understand? Why weren't they launching a full out search for him? He was out there somewhere, all alone and who knows how bad they'd beat him…or worse.

"I know. I know. Bella they did an extensive search of the warehouse. The drugs, the papers, everything was gone. There was nobody there."

"Okay so they just moved everything."

"They found..." Hr paused, unsure if he should continue. "They found quite a bit of blood Bells."

"But…maybe Jake fought them off. Maybe….it was their blood." My voice cracked as I tried to make excuses, make any reason for the blood besides the truth.

Charlie's phone rang.

"This is Swan….Okay….Okay…Fifth street dock?" His eyes flickered to mine. "Alright thanks for calling. Did someone call Billy?" My heart sank.

I tore off the tubes, ignoring the resistance from my father and a few nurses who tried to restrain me.

I ran through the hospital halls, desperate to find the exit. I spotted the emergency stairs and flew through the door, setting off the alarm.

I stood on the street in my hospital gown, trying to wave down a taxi. I doubted anyone would pick me up looking like this, but someone did.

"Fifth street dock please? As fast as possible." As soon as my dad called Carlisle, they'd be on the lookout for me.

I don't know if the cabbie was scared of the hysterical tears, or my attire, or the terrified look in my eyes, but he kept looking back at me.

"Are you okay miss?"

"No."

My answer didn't invite any more questions.

The drive there felt like it took forever. Like we got stopped at every red light, or got delayed by the pedestrians crossing the road, or anything that could possibly stop the car. I saw the police lights flickering up ahead.

"Here's fine."

I jumped out of the taxi without paying him.

"Hey miss you owe me $19.50!" He stuck his head out the window.

"I'm a cop. Bill me!" I ran as fast as I could towards the lights.

Someone grabbed me around my waist just as I was about to cross under the police tape.

"Newton! Let me through!" I punched and kicked at him, trying to get him to release me.

"Bella you don't need to see it."

"Yes I do!" I elbowed him in the groin and he let go of me.

I ran under the police tape and around the corner. The flash of the camera caught me off guard and I stopped. Carlisle stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at the other side of the dumpster. I could see Jake's shoes peaking out from under the bloodied white sheet.

Everything happened in slow motion. I started towards the dumpster, but my knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Carlisle rushed over to pull me back up as I started to crawl towards it.

"Bella…no." He was tugging me back, away from Jake.

"Carlisle get your hands off me!" I was absolutely hysterical, barely able to construct a full sentence.

I wriggled out of his grasp and crawled quickly over to the white sheet. My hands shook as I grabbed the top of the sheet and pulled it down slowly.

He looked like he was sleeping. Very peaceful. My fingers trembled as I touched his lips.

"Jake…" I reached under the sheet and grabbed his hand.

I saw all the blood. It was pooled by his stomach. Those bastards shot him in the stomach so he wouldn't die right away. He had suffered. He hadn't gone quickly. It broke my heart into a million pieces.

I sat for another twenty minutes just holding his hand and rocking back and forth. Carlisle came up and touched my shoulder.

"Bella they…they need to take the body."

"Stay. Away. From us."

He didn't say another word he just backed away.

"She's going to need a few more minutes," he whispered to the ambulance workers.

Another ten minutes later, Carlisle tapped my shoulder again.

"Bella I'm sorry. It's time. They have to take him now."

I didn't say anything, I was all cried out. I kissed Jake's hand and let it go as I stood up and walked away.

The ambulance workers walked over with a stretcher and started loading his body onto it.

"Carlisle please tell me we have enough to put them away. Please."

"I'm sorry Bella. Everything was lost in the crash. The laptop was completely destroyed. We don't have anything."

"So he died for nothing."

"No Bella he didn't. Jake was a great cop. We'll get the chance again. We'll get the chance to honor him when we put those bastards away for good."

I crossed my arms as I watched them load Jake's body into the ambulance. I jumped as the door slammed with a loud thud.

I suddenly realized I wasn't at the dock anymore. I was in my own house, in my own bathtub. The water had grown cold while I slept_. I hadn't had one of those dreams in awhile_, I thought to myself.

I glanced over at the case file, still sitting against the wall. Right now that thing was the scariest thing in my world, but my world was about to get a lot scarier. I had to do this all the way, not half ass it. Jake deserved it. I was going to bring them down.

"This is for us Jake. For the both of us."


	2. Welcome to the Family

"I'm Lindsay Cavanaugh." I turned my head as I looked at my reflection. "I'm Cavanaugh. Lindsay Cavanaugh." I laughed a little. Who the hell did I think I was, James Bond? My fingers ran through my recently shortened hair, finally resting on my collarbone. It was all a part of the job. New haircut, new name, new everything. Once I got the word, I'd be off and living in a small apartment in the dangerous part of town. I had to get as far away from my life now as possible. There couldn't be anything for them to trace back to me.

The knock at the door startled me from my train of thought.

"Bells? It's me."

"Come in Dad." My eyes remained on the mirror as I saw him enter the door.

He stopped when he saw my appearance.

"Wow they cut a lot." He gestured towards me hair. "I barely recognized you."

"Rub it in Dad." I hadn't had hair that reached above my elbow since I was five years old. "They put some highlights in too, in case you wanted to know."

"It looks good sweetheart. Relax. I know you're nervous."

I turned to face him.

"I'm not really nervous Dad." That was a lie. "I'm just anxious to get in there." That wasn't.

He sat down on the edge of my couch and stared at his hands for a few minutes.

"Well you won't have to be anxious much longer."

I froze and turned towards him.

"How long is much longer?"

"You have a meeting tomorrow with one of the Volturi's guys. Mario's Pizza Joint on 13th." He tossed a manila file my way.

"His name's Jasper." I opened the file and saw a picture of an attractive blonde guy staring back at me with a heartwarming smile. Pretty ironic considering he was part of the mafia. He looked young, maybe my age or a couple years older. "He acts like a sort of…fisher for the family. They say he's got a way of knowing what people are all about. If you're nervous, he'll know. If you're vengeful, he'll know. Keep your cool. The family trusts him with bringing new people in. He doesn't vouch for you, you don't get in. Got it?"

I nodded, scanning over Jasper's file.

"This one here's name is Emmett." He handed me another file. This guy looked big. "He works as the enforcer." I tilted my head. Seemed appropriate. There was something tender and big brotherly about his face. Maybe it was the dimples. I closed my eyes. Stop it Bella. Those are the dimples of a killer.

"The last one's a guy named Edward. He's fairly new, started working for the family a few months ago, so watch out for him. He's still trying to prove himself. Word on the street is that he's a real hard ass. Doesn't take bullshit from anyone. Can tell if you're lying just like you were Pinocchio with your nose sticking out twenty damn feet. You gotta be a damn good liar with this one Bells. He'll be on a witch hunt for anything that will gain him more cred with Aro."

He finally handed me Edward's file. I flipped it open and was taken aback by the man in the picture. He was…breathtakingly gorgeous. Even the stern look on his face was beautiful. His eyes were just…mesmerizing. I've never seen that shade of green before.

"Uh. Bells?" My dad elbowed me slightly.

"Oh. Sorry. What were you saying?"

"You're meeting Jasper tomorrow at ten a.m. Our contact set it up. While you're at your meeting they'll be one guy on the outside keeping an eye on you while the rest of us move all your stuff into your new place, which is on 3rd Street. After that we may not be able to contact you. And it's too early for you to wear a wire, they might check you. So you're on your own for a while kiddo. Be smart." He got up and started towards the door. "Be careful Bells. You know…I love you and I was only trying to protect you. But I believe in you." The edge of his mouth pulled up into a smirk.

I walked over slowly and hugged him. "I love you too Dad." I gave him a final squeeze before letting him go.

It was getting late. I decided I should go to bed. I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

I tossed and turned all night, unable to keep my mind off the job. This was the only chance I had to make it right for Jake. It was the most important thing I'd ever do.

I finally got up at 7 in the morning, after my night of restlessness. I knew it was no use. I wasn't going to get any sleep. I took my time in the shower, not knowing the next time I'd have a place so nice to shower in. I dragged the comb through my hair extra slow, taking my time to get out all the knots. I even used my blow dryer to make it exceptionally straight. Each time I stared at the clock my heart skipped a beat. I didn't think it was possible for time to move slower and faster at the same time.

My hands skimmed through my closet full of new clothes. Jeans? No, too casual. A skirt? No, I wanted them to take me seriously. I opted for a very professional looking pantsuit. I kept it a little sexy wearing a lacy silk cami underneath. It was important for me to demonstrate some kind of control over the men. Even if it was just in their pants.

My eyes glanced toward the clock again. 9:30. I should get going. I don't want to be late. You don't show up late to a meeting with the mob. You show up late, you won't show up anywhere else period. I took one last look around my apartment, grabbed my brand new cell phone and my brand new purse that held my brand new identity and walked out.

As I rounded the corner I saw the pizza place. It looked pretty dark. Now that I thought about it 10 a.m. is a little early for a slice of pepperoni. My eyes shifted slightly to the black sedan parked across the street. I knew someone was in there watching my every move, ready to pull me out of there at the first sign of trouble. I barely acknowledged them as I walked past.

I noticed a large man standing guard at the entrance to the pizza parlor. It was Emmett. I recognized him from his photo. He stood in a tight black t-shirt and black jeans with his arms crossed leaning against the door of the place. _Put on your game face Bella, it's time to go._

I tilted my head towards the sky, keeping it high as I walked towards him, all insecurities gone. I was Lindsay Cavanaugh, successful earner for the most notorious mafia families. I had planned to walk right past Emmett without a word, just walk in like I owned the place. He eyed me as I crossed the street and headed towards the front door. As I reached for the door handle, he put a strong hand on my shoulder.

"Can I help you miss?"

"Unless you're Jasper, then no." I confidently pushed through his hold and started to walk through the door.

"So you're the one they recommended?" He leaned in closer. "The earner?" His lips were inches from my ear. "You got a name doll?"

I panicked. I wasn't prepared for questions from the bodybuilder.

"Bella," I said quickly. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I hadn't even walked through the door and I messed up. I guess Lindsay was out the window.

"Bella…" He grabbed a lock of my hair and ran it through his fingers. "That's a pretty name. You got a last name Bella?"

I was a little more prepared this time.

"Cavanaugh."

He dropped my hair and returned back to his post.

"Jazz is inside waiting for you."

"Thank you…I didn't get your name?"

He smiled towards me with those killer dimples. "Emmett."

"Emmett." I smirked and walked through the doors.

The large room I stepped into was dark and empty. Empty except for the long table at the other end of the room, where Jasper sat. I felt like I'd just stepped into the Godfather. Next thing I'd know, Jasper would be making me an offer I couldn't refuse.

"Miss Cavanaugh? Is it?" Jasper stood up, flashed a smile and extended his hand to mine. How did he know? I noticed the television screen to my right. It was a security camera of the entranceway, complete with sound. Emmett had started whistling and cat calling at every girl that walked by.

"Yes. Jasper I assume?" I shook his hand firmly and managed a slight smile.

"Please, take a seat." He gestured to the chair in front of me.

"Thank you." I pulled the chair out and took a seat, placing my bag next to my feet.

"So Bella. What can you do for us?"

"I don't play fuck around Jasper. You're the ones who called me. You know what I do. The better question is what do you want me to do for you?" I was in shock. I had no idea where that came from.

"Touché." Jasper smiled and rubbed his hands slowly together. "You see we recently…lost," he snickered, "our earner. Turned out to be a rat. We had to…take care of him." My fist clenched under the table. _Relax, Bella. You won't do Jacob any good if you get yourself killed now._

"Excellent. The more of them out of this business the better." It was surprised I could say that with a calm and collected expression. This man was talking about disposing of my best friend.

"Anyway, we bring in some large shipments, deal with some big people, we need an earner who knows what they're doing. We're the best, and from what we hear from our sources you're the b-"

"I am the best," I interrupted. I was absolutely dumbfounded at where this overconfidence was coming from. But I was thankful for it; it was just what I needed.

Jasper leaned back in his chair and brought his hand to his chin.

"Indeed." His eyes narrowed on me, like he was trying to figure me out. This was it. I sat up tall in my chair and stared directly back at him, never breaking eye contact.

He finally cracked a smile and leaned back towards the table. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper and a lighter and slid them towards me.

"You're going to meet the boss. Memorize the number on this sheet of paper. Stop in the shop next to us right now and buy a pack of cigarettes. Stand outside and smoke one, then light this piece of paper on fire. There must be no trace of this, understand? No telephone calls, no bathroom stops, no stops in the mirror to check your hair. Take the Subway to 18th, then a cab back to 10th. Walk into a shop called Tommy's Toupees and go out the back entrance. Walk down the alley and look for the number written on this sheet."

He stood up and nodded to Emmett, who was peeking his head in the doorway.

"We'll see you soon Bella." He and Emmett slipped down a dark, hallway leading to the back of the pizza parlor.

I grabbed the piece of paper and opened it up. 4933. I tucked that number in my memory and the sheet of paper and the lighter in my pocket. Picking up my bag, I turned and walked out of the joint. There was a small liquor store right next-door, just like Jasper had said. Before walking in I coughed three times, the signal for "Do Not Follow." I watched as the black sedan pulled away. I did as Jasper said and walked into the shop.

"A pack of Marlboros please."

I handed the man my money and stepped back outside. I took the lighter and the piece of paper from my pocket and a cigarette from the pack. I brought it to my lips and held up the lighter, setting the end of the stick on fire. I was not a smoker. In fact, I'd never smoked a cigarette in my entire life. I inhaled deeply, trying to imitate what I'd seen. I coughed the first couple of times, but eventually was able to hold it in. When I was close enough to finished I discreetly lit the small piece of paper on fire and threw it and my cigarette to the ground, smashing them both into the pavement with my boot.

It took me a full hour before I was walking through Tommy's Toupees. The back entrance was a little tough to find, though a dark hallway in the back. I exited into a long alleyway that looked vaguely familiar. There was a line of warehouses on either side of me. I was back to where I last saw Jake alive, where I last heard his voice. I shook the memory from my head and continued forward, looking for the one with 4933. There weren't addresses, just large numbers on the warehouse doors. The last warehouse on the right had 4933 written plainly on the door in red paint. Did I knock, did I just…walk in? I took a chance and confidently opened the door. It was completely dark inside. Was this a set-up? Did they know? My hand felt along the wall for a light switch. I heard a click and the room was suddenly illuminated. It looked just like I had imagined it. A large warehouse of boxes, with a metal staircase in the corner, heading up to what I imagined to be Aro's office. It's light was off. There was a large floor to ceiling sliding door to my left. That must be where they kept the drugs that Jake saw. I shuddered at the thought that it might be the room that he died in. I couldn't think about that right now. My mind had to be completely clear.

"Impressive Bella. That didn't take half as long as I thought it would." A tall, thin man stepped out from behind a large wooden box dressed in a dark designer suit.

Jasper, Emmett and a few others stepped out from the other boxes. I scanned the crowd for the only other face I knew. Edward wasn't there.

"Aro." I nodded slightly as a sign of respect.

"So my Jasper tells me he thinks you'd be a good asset to our team." My eyes flitted to Jasper. He didn't make eye contact, he didn't smile. He just looked straight ahead.

"Fortunately for you from what I've seen and heard I agree with him." A wave of relief washed over me. "However, we do not just let people into our family without them proving their loyalty." He picked at his nails, looking bored. "Are you willing to prove this?"

"Of course Aro."

"Edward?!" Aro tilted his head to the side towards the large door. My heart accelerated at the sound of his name. I didn't know what they were about to throw at me, but I wouldn't lie, I was nervous as hell. I fought against the shaking in my legs.

The screech of the door made me shoot straight up. I was tempted to turn my head and peek at the man advancing towards me. I could see the movement from the corner of my eye and a large white mass. And red. Lots of red moving from side to side. The large white tub of red, frothy liquid was set before me by a mop of bronze hair in a black leather jacket. He didn't look up at me and I didn't make an effort to peak at his face. I finally forced myself to look at the tub. It was blood. My breathing stopped. I was terrified to know what that had to do with my "initiation."

"Kneel please." Jasper brought a large chair to Aro, in which he sat and crossed his legs.

I did as he said and dropped to my knees in front of the tub. Emmett came up slowly behind me and restrained my arms behind my back. He leaned close to my ear.

"It's better if you don't open your mouth," he whispered. "Squeeze my arm three times when you need to breathe. I wouldn't want to lose something as beautiful as you just yet. It'll be our secret." He slowly ran a finger down my spine.

My face turned to stone before he violently pushed me forward, submerging me in the thick red liquid. I did as he said, and fought my hardest to keep my mouth shut. I wanted to scream. To fight for air. But I kept it shut. This was a test I was determined to ace no matter how hard I had to fight. I counted to twenty before I squeezed Emmett's arms. I could have gone longer; depriving yourself of oxygen was part of my training. I didn't want to appear suspicious. He brought me up suddenly. I felt my hair matting and sticking to my skin as the blood dripped down my face. I couldn't help it; I had to open my mouth to breathe. I spit out the substance that made its way onto my tongue.

"Again." Aro tapped on the arm of the chair.

I was plunged once again into the tub. Then again. And again. Each time I increased my counting slightly, in an attempt to prove myself. I didn't say a word throughout the whole thing. I didn't scream, I didn't protest. I just took it. That's what they were looking for anyway. Someone to keep quiet. If I could hold in my complaints about being dipped into a pool of blood, I would surely keep all of their secrets.

"Enough." Aro raised his hand. "Very good Bella. Not a screamer I see." He smirked, acknowledging his sexual innuendo. All of the men surrounding him laughed. For once I thanked all those disgusting pigs at my office for giving me a tough skin with this kind of stuff. It didn't bother me one bit.

"Stand her up Emmett."

Emmett's strong hands pulled me to my feet. I wondered what was next. Walking across hot coals? Eating a scorpion? I ran through all the episodes of Fear Factor in my head, trying to imagine what they'd do to me next.

"I can see she'll do fine on all of our other pretests." Aro smiled at me. Pretests? What the fuck was the real test?

"Edward." He gestured behind me. "Please take Bella down to her…accommodations."

I brushed away the hair that was sticking to my face and wiped the liquid away from my eyes.

A hand grasped around my arm and pulled me towards the large door. I could feel the leather of his jacket brush against my skin.

He towed me through the large empty storeroom until we reached a small door on the opposite side. He opened it and pushed me through into complete darkness. The only light came from a small opening at the end of the long hallway. My hand reached for the side to guide my way. I started walking forward. Something small, fast and furry scurried across my foot. I pulled it back.

"Keep moving." His voice was like velvet, even when its tone was cold. I still couldn't see his face. I could barely see my own hand in front of me. I took a confident step forward and stumbled on the uneven ground, falling forward. I tumbled around a few times, feeling the scrap on my knee and the knock to my head.

Edward let out an annoyed sigh. The kind people get when they place their hands on their hips and shrug their shoulders waiting for something. I felt him whoosh past me. His body partially blocked the small light source at the end of the hallway.

"Are you finished being a clumsy bitch?"

My shock was audible. I stood up and brushed myself off, following him down the hallway. We eventually made it to the source of light, a small room, if you could call it that. Looked more like a stone closet. There was a small pillow in one corner and a toilet in the other. I turned and gasped when I finally saw him. His hair was groomed, but a little shaggy, falling slightly over his eyes, which still refused to look at me. His mouth was in a hard line and his brow furrowed. How could he be so cold…and so utterly beautiful at the same time?

"Emmett will bring you your food. And I'll tell him to bring you a towel and some bandages." He nodded towards my knee.

"Thanks" was all I managed to spit out.

Without another word, or even acknowledgment of my presence he closed the door quickly behind him. I heard the clink of a padlock and the echoes of his footsteps down the hall.

I pressed lightly against where I thought I had hit my head. It was tender and sore already. I pulled my hand back and saw the red spots of blood on it. I wasn't sure if it was my blood or whoever's I'd been dumped in. I looked around the room once again. I wonder how many people before me had been in here? My hands ran over the cobblestone-like walls. They stopped when my fingers grazed over scratches in the stone. Five of them, right next to each other. Nail marks. I pulled my hand back quickly. God. What did I get myself into? I leaned my head back. I must have nodded off.

I awoke to the sound of the door creaking open. Emmett walked in with a plate of bread, a glass of water, a small black bag and a huge grin.

"Hey girl, how are you holding up?" He set the plate down on the ground and walked over to me, sitting on the ground beside me.

"How long have I been in here?" I squinted into the darkness.

"Seven hours." He pulled a small towel, some antiseptic, and some bandages out of the bag. Unscrewing the cap, he dumped some antiseptic on the towel and began to dab at my forehead.

"Anywhere else?"

I looked down at the dirt stain on my knee.

"Lift up your pants."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Nothing funny here. I'm just trying to help you out."

I tugged my pant leg up, granting him access to the large scrape on my knee. He took my leg in his hand and pulled it onto his lap, dabbing at my cut.

"Geez, Edward said you were pretty banged up, but I didn't realize you were this clumsy." He laughed.

"What the hell is his deal anyway? He's kind of a dick."

Emmett placed a large bandage over my knee.

"He has to be. He's still the newbie. Well I guess he won't be anymore, as long as you survive this." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Edward isn't a bad guy once you get to know him."

"Sure," I huffed.

"Well there you go. Dr. Emmett took care of the boo boo. Do you want me to kiss it?" He batted his eyelashes at me.

"No thank you Dr. Emmett. I'm perfectly fine." Despite the situation I was in, I still had some wit left in me.

"Alright." He stood up laughing. "There's some bread and water for you. I'll bring some to you twice a day so don't get too greedy in the morning or you'll be real hungry by 2 o'clock."

He turned to leave.

"Hey Emmett. Thanks…for the help. You know earlier." It was good to make good connections with the people you were looking to bust. If I had to be friends with anyone, Emmett wouldn't be so bad. At least he had a sense of humor. And he did really help me out earlier. I can't imagine what the tub of blood would have been like if Edward had been holding me down.

"No problem. I hope you enjoy your accommodations." He winked and bowed sarcastically before leaving the room. I sighed as I heard the click of the padlock again.

I'd been in that room for a full week. I'd been counting how many times Emmett had brought me food. I ate when I was hungry, but not too much. That wasn't hard. The bread was disgusting. Mostly I just slept. It wasn't too bad for what it could have been.

Emmett and I engaged in small talk and witty banter for the few minutes that he was in there to drop my food off.

On the eighth day I smiled a little as I heard the lock click, knowing I'd see "Dimples" again. I'd let it slip that he had killer dimples. It was kind of an inside joke now.

The figure that came through the door was not "Dimples", nor was it Jasper. It was Dickward. He wore the same jacket from before and carried nothing in his hands.

"You look good," he laughed. It was a laughing at me, not laughing with me type of sarcastic laugh.

I huffed as I stood up.

"And chipper as ever," he added with a crooked smile.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"I don't have a problem." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Obviously you do. You have a problem with me and I don't know why. You didn't have to be such an asshole when I fell coming in here." I looked down at my feet.

"You tripped…over absolutely nothing. Who does that?" I could answer that question. Me. And frequently. I'd have to work on that if I knew I would be ostracized each time I did.

"Whatever. Where's my food?" I held out my hands. I was famished.

"What do I look like Miss Whiney Ass, your own personal room service?"

I dropped my hands.

"Fine then if you aren't here to bring me food why are you here?"

"Boss wants to see you." He bit at his nail.

Aro wanted to see me. I didn't know if this was a good or bad thing. I felt like I hadn't gone through enough torture to be done yet.

"Well." He gestured towards the door, annoyed.

I started down the hallway, stumbling slightly due to my frailty from lack of food. Edward snickered behind me.

We finally made it back to the big storage room and walked across it. Edward opened the large door. In the main entryway, I was greeted by a small group of elaborately dressed people. I recognized some of them. Aro was there, and his brothers Marcus and Caius. There were also a few elegantly dressed women standing next to them. A blonde and a brunette were on Aro's arm. They looked young.

The group stood around a long, wooden dining room table, draped with an elegant red tablecloth. Candles lined the middle of the table and great silver food plates littered the table. It looked rather out of place in a warehouse setting. My mouth salivated at the smell of the amazing food.

"Bella. Welcome. You are to the final phase of initiation into the family. Please keep in mind that this initiation is not final. You will be considered a new member, lowest on the seniority poll until you further prove yourself."

I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Demetri, the brand." I was so taken back by the familiar name that I failed to realize what he was holding. This was Demetri. The Demetri from Jake's tape. He walked towards me with a long stick, the end glowing orange.

"Where at boss?"

"Felix. Please…remove her clothing." Another man stepped from the group and walked over to me. He grasped the waist of my pants firmly and tugged hard, ripping them away from my body. He then unbuttoned my jacket and threw it to the ground. I stood, shivering slightly in my lacy silk cami and my boy short underwear.

"Inner thigh," Aro said.

Demetri knelt down in front of me and placed his cold hands on my right knee, pulling it to the side.

"Bella. Do you swear allegiance to the family Volturi? Do you give your body and your soul to our cause and our survival? If you accept this and the code of Omerta simply say yes."

"Yes." I was fairly certain of what came next.

"Emmett. The towel."

Emmett stepped towards me and told me to open my mouth. "Trust me, you'll want this." He stuck the towel into my mouth and then forced me to bite down on it.

"Let it be done." Aro clapped his hand once.

Demetri smirked. I writhed in pain as the poker burned onto my skin. I bit down hard on the towel, not ashamed to let my screams out. A small string of smoke rose in front of me and the smell of burning flesh overwhelmed my nose.

The poker could have only been on there for a few moments, but it felt like each second was a century. I couldn't stop the tears escaping out the side of my eyes.

The burning subsided only slightly after he removed the red hot poker from my leg.

The next thing I knew Emmett was scooping me up and carrying me up the stairs to a small bathroom beside Aro's office.

"Here put this on it." He handed me a cold, damp washcloth.

"Fuck! Damn it!" I held the cold compress over my burn. This was without a doubt the most pain I'd ever been in. Ever.

"Move the cloth." Emmett had a tube of something in his hands.

I eyed him suspiciously. I didn't want to take away the cold.

"Move it."

I reluctantly pulled the cloth away, exposing the burn to the air. It burned for an instant before Emmett began putting something icy on it. It didn't take the pain away, but it dulled it away to something that was almost bearable.

"There. Does that feel better?"

I didn't answer. I just breathed deeply. In and out. In and out. Trying to regain my composure.

"I know. It hurts like hell." He pulled up his sleeve, revealing a strange scar in the shape of a V.

I looked down at my thigh and saw the same V in my red inflamed skin. I'd been branded.

He put some more ointment on my burn before covering it with a bandage.

"Here," he threw me some sweatpants. "Put these on. Sorry mine were too big. I had to steal Edward's."

"Really? You couldn't have taken Jasper's? You know Edward hates me." I reluctantly put the sweat pants on, moving slowly over the bandage.

"Jasper isn't really a sweatpants kinda guy Bella." He opened the door and we began to descend the staircase. I noted everyone's eyes on me, especially Edward's searing cold ones. His followed me intently as I walked across the room back over to a smiling Aro.

"Welcome to the family."

**A/N: So we're two chapters in. I wanted to hurry up and get the first two up because I don't like it when stories only have one chapter. Also, these may be a little more spaced apart then my past stories. I'm really trying to take my time and making sure that I get everything right, since I'm not an expert in the mafia. I'm even using a mafia dictionary thing on the internet, so believe me I'm trying to make it as authentic as possible. Also, playlist for the story is on my profile. I'll also be adding pictures of what I picture some of the characters to look like eventually. That might not happen for a few days. You don't have to look at them, I'd love you guys to have your own ideas of what Mobward and the rest look like, but I'll post them just so you know what image I had in my head.  
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**So what do you guys think of our first glance of Edward? Or Dickward? Or Mobward? Whatever you want to call him. He seems like an asshole, but I have to admit there's something incredibly sexy about a Mafia guy in a leather jacket. Especially one like Edward. : )  
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	3. Dirty Diana

"Bella, please sit." Aro gestured to an empty seat at the table. Emmett skipped over, pulling out the chair with a large grin.

"Thank you Aro." I smiled and took my seat at the table.

Everyone else took their spots. Jasper and Emmett flanked my sides; Edward sat directly across from me. I tried to avoid his gaze completely, but I kept feeling his eyes on me. Jasper and Emmett didn't seem to notice, they were talking and joking with one another and the others at the table.

I was absolutely famished. Salmon. Chicken. Carrots. Stuffing. I had a bit of everything on my plate, devouring everything in sight.

"Hmph."

I stopped, fork midway to my mouth, and glared at the person sitting across from me. Edward sat slightly slouched back, his arms crossed, smirking sarcastically at me.

"Am I offending you?" I dropped the fork, making a loud clank.

The table fell silent, except for Emmett's laughter.

"Don't mind him Bella. He's just used to seeing girls with an appetite." Emmett slapped my shoulder playfully. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the two girls who sat next to Aro cower slightly in their seats.

I narrowed my eyes at Edward before picking my fork back up and stuffing the biggest piece of chicken I could manage into my mouth.

It was Aro's laugh that filled the room this time. He clapped as if he was thoroughly entertained by Edward and my exchange.

"Bella I do love your humor. I am so looking forward to our time together." Aro intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on his hands, leaning forward towards the middle of the table. "Francois!" He snapped his fingers towards the waiters standing in the background. "I do believe we're ready for dessert."

I took my time eating my desert, slowly consuming and enjoying each little morsel of the amazing Tiramisu. And I stared at Edward the entire time, my eyes filled with hate.

He sat calmly as he finished his plate, smiling sarcastically at me as if to mock my anger.

"So Bella are you ready to see your new living quarters?" Jasper turned towards me.

"New living quarters?"

"Well you surely don't want to stay in your old accommodations." Aro snickered playfully.

"We've already moved your things from your apartment on 5th. Everything is all set at the penthouse."

I let out a silent whoosh of relief. Thank Goodness I'd gotten a new apartment for the job. They could have easily traced my old apartment back to the police.

"You want to go see it?" Emmett grabbed my forearm and pulled me up from my chair.

"Yes please do Bella. I like my family to live well. Help yourself to anything in the penthouse; it's your home now. Please enjoy it," Aro said.

"Thank you Aro. I appreciate your hospitality."

Jasper drove, while Edward sat shotgun, with Emmett and I in the backseat. He just wouldn't shut up about how great the penthouse was. My eyes kept glancing up into the rearview mirror. I could just feel his eyes on me. And I was right. Edward's eyes darted down as soon as mine connected with his.

We pulled into the tallest building I'd ever seen. Jasper opened his door and threw the keys to the valet who was waiting patiently beside the car. My head tilted up, up, up searching for the top of the building. It was lost in the thick of clouds. My hand reached down aimlessly for the door handle. It swung open swiftly, held open for me by Edward. This was different. I eyed him suspiciously as I stepped out of the car.

"Thank you." I turned towards Edward.

"You're welcome." His eyes didn't connect with mine. It didn't sound like I was welcome. I shrugged it off and turned back towards the massive building in front of me.

"Right this way madam." Emmett did a bow and gestured towards the door.

We walked through some incredibly ornate revolving doors and stepped into the most elegant and lavish lobby I've ever seen.

"Wow."

"You haven't even seen the penthouse yet," Jasper laughed. His finger pointed up. "Top floor."

I smiled and sauntered over to the elevator, still taking my surroundings in. I'd never been in place as nice as this before, odds are I never would be again. Not on a cop's salary.

"Not that one." Emmett ushered me away from the elevator. "We get our own."

There, hiding among a mass of fake trees, was a small elevator door marked "PH." Jasper and Edward were already inside, holding the door open for us. My shoulder brushed briefly against Edward's outstretched arm, gracing us both with an electric shock.

"Sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my shoulder slightly.

He pressed the "PH" button, the only option available besides Ground. I couldn't complain about not having to deal with people getting on and off the elevator. After a full minute of rising we came to a soft stop and the doors opened. My eyes blinked a few times, questioning if what I was seeing was truly real and truly right in front of me.

We entered into a large living room/bar room/dining room/kitchen/just plain huge ass room. Everything that could be gold was gold, from the flecks in the marble floor to the crown moldings. No doubt it was all real. There was a large, plush white couch and chair in the center of the room seated in front of a huge see-through fireplace and flat screen plasma television.

Emmett leaned in close. "Now you can say wow."

"Wow," I stuttered. I don't know what I was expecting for the Mob's Home Sweet Home, but this was definitely exceeding my expectations.

"Your room is this way," Jasper smiled and gestured to the hallway on the right.

I followed him down the long passageway, taking in everything slowly. Edward and Emmett tagged along behind us. "Here."

We stopped at a beautiful white door adorned with gold trim and an intricate, vintage looking handle.

My breath caught in my throat as the door opened into the most beautiful bedroom I've ever seen. I couldn't believe this was all for me.

"Are you sure we're in the right room?" I walked into the room, spinning in circles to look at it all.

Emmett laughed.

I turned back towards the door. Edward was gone.

"He doesn't like me much does he?" I set my bag down on the floor.

"He's just a hard ass. He'll warm up to you eventually. Give him the chance." Jasper turned and walked away.

"So where do you sleep Emmett?"

"Why are you planning on sneaking in for a late night booty call?"

I snickered. With anyone else, this kind of shit would bother me. But it was just Emmett. I felt like I was starting to get to know him, and despite my best instincts I liked him. He was someone I could joke around with, like an older brother. A very perverted older brother.

"No. It's just nice to know where your friends are….or better yet know where people who are not friends are."

He shrugged. "Don't mind Edward. Just do your thing girl. The boss likes you. Jasper and I like you. Edward will too…eventually."

"Ha. Eventually." I didn't understand why I was so concerned about Edward's opinion of me. It didn't matter. I was going to be the one putting them in jail a few months from now. He really wouldn't like me then.

"Mine and Jasper's room are in the hallway on the other side of the living room."

"And Edward's….?"

"Eh." Emmett's eyes drifted out into the hallway. More precisely to the door right across the hall from mine.

"Fantastic." I slumped down on the bed.

"Sorry Bells. He's the new guy so he got the deserted side. Jasper and I have been friends for a long time."

My eyes seared into the closed door across the hall. This was going to be interesting.

"Bathroom's at the end of the hallway. We uh, didn't mess with any of that kind of stuff from your place. It's all in the black bag there." He pointed to a corner of the room, which I now saw had a few boxes, a trunk, and a small bag. Emmett's eyes raked over the bag looking absolutely terrified.

"What is it about girls and their beauty products that scare you guys so much?"

"As long as it makes you beautiful, I don't want to know anything about waxing, plucking, shaving, exfoliating, or…other girl issues. I'm a guy. We don't do girl issues. And by the way," he pointed a finger at me, "If I see the word tampons on our grocery list I will flip out, so get your own."

I laughed. "So you don't have people that do all the shopping for you?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Not really. I mean Aro lets us stay here and he gives us any and all the money we need to live here, but we're pretty much on our own. Unless he needs us for a job or something." He shrugged his shoulders. "Alright." He slapped my knee. "I'll let you unpack. See you tomorrow." He smiled and left the room.

I started unpacking all my things putting my clothes in the dresser or in the oversized walk in closet. I was thankful for once that I didn't have that much stuff. Once I had unpacked everything except for my scary bag with girl things, I picked it up and walked tentatively to the bathroom.

"Oh. My. God." I said as I flipped on the light switch. The gold theme continued into the bathroom, if you could even call it that. It was more like a spa, like a sanctuary. There was a large sink to one side. What looked like a 5-person shower sat in the corner. There were even large billowing swatches of fabric hanging down in all four corners of the hot tub like bathtub. Unlit candles graced the surrounding space and the stairs that led up to the basin.

I strolled over to the vanity and started to put my things in the cabinet. I searched the countertop for a place to keep my toothbrush. I sighed when I saw a toothbrush holder, one spot taken by a bright blue toothbrush. I could scrub the toilet with it, or use it on the first dog I could find. Instead I decided to do something that I hoped would be even more irritating to him. I set my red toothbrush in the spot right next to his with a smile. As I turned to leave, my eyes couldn't avoid the allure of the bathtub.

I leaned forward on my toes and glanced down the hallway. Edward's door was still closed. Maybe he'd already gone to sleep. I tiptoed back down to my room and grabbed a towel and my IPod before slipping back into the bathroom. I undressed and wrapped the towel around me while the warm water filled the basin. I didn't even have a bathtub in my old apartment. This was going to be like heaven. I smiled to myself as I lit the candles with the matches I'd found underneath the sink.

The water felt like ecstasy as I dipped my foot in. I let the towel fall to the floor as I emerged myself. The room was beginning to fill with a think steam. I leaned my head back against the soft pillow on the side of the tub and put my headphones in. My mind began to wander as I soaked in the water.

I suddenly felt like I was doing something wrong. Here I was in this luxurious place and I was actually enjoying it. I felt like I was somehow betraying Jake. No Bella. You're doing your job. What would they think if you sulked around all the time? You have every right to use the facilities provided to you. I could just imagine Jake laughing at me for being so ridiculous, arguing with myself on whether I had the right to take a bath or not. "Relax Bella, it's just a bath," he'd say.

I finally started to let go and began humming along to the songs playing loudly in my ears. My humming turned to mumbling which turned into full on singing. With my eyes closed, it was like I was in my own little world. It wasn't just me in a bathtub singing to my favorite Michael Jackson song. I was back at home, in my own apartment dancing around and singing with Jake. "_Dirty Diana, oh_!" I smiled at the memory.

A soft sound, something definitely not from my headphones startled me. I whipped them off and turned slightly towards the vanity. Edward stood at the sink brushing his teeth.

"Excuse me?!" I frantically pulled the towel up to cover any of me that wasn't hidden in the bathwater. "What the hell are you doing?"

His eyes briefly glanced my way in the mirror, showing no sign of shock that he was not alone in the bathroom.

He spit into the sink and turned on the water. "I'm brushing my teeth genius." He brushed around a couple more times, spit again, and turned the water off, placing his toothbrush back in the holder.

"Did you ever think to knock?"

He shrugged. "No."

"Well…uh…but…" I was shocked at his answer. It was so…honest. I guess that was one good thing I was learning about Edward. He didn't bullshit you. He always gave you a straight answer, even if it was totally out of left field and not what you were expecting at all.

He turned and started out the door.

"Goodnight," he peeked his head back in a smiled a crooked smile. "Dirty Diana."

**A/N: "Dirty Diana" is the Michael Jackson song that Bella was singing, which Edward heard. So he's teasing her.**

**Reviews are better than peeping Edwards. : )  
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	4. Kind of Sort of Beautiful

The sound of laughter awoke me the next morning. I stretched, keeping my eyes closed, not quite ready to get out of bed yet. When I finally opened my eyes I glanced at the clock. 12:34. Nice. I hadn't slept that long since I was a kid on my summer break from school. My meeting with Carlisle was in an hour. I still needed to come up with a good excuse to go out. Aro said that we'd be laying low for the next couple of days before they started integrating me into their day-to-day business.

I rolled out of bed and walked out into the living room, not bothering to run a comb through my mess of hair. I ran my fingers through the tangles as I entered the kitchen. Emmett was leaning against the bar, shirtless, with half of a bagel hanging out the side of his mouth. He was laughing with Jasper, who sat on a barstool eating a bowl of cereal, while Edward waited very impatiently for his Pop Tart to emerge from the toaster.

"Good morning beautiful." Emmett smiled towards me.

"Good morning." I suddenly felt embarrassed by my appearance. I mean, they were just guys, and it wasn't like they were dressed up spiffy. But my homely pajamas weren't exactly very feminine by any means. I tugged at my shirt, feeling a lithe self-conscious.

Jasper turned towards me, offering his greeting. Edward didn't flinch. His eyes never broke from his strawberry pop tart.

"Edward. Did you see Bella has graced us with her presence?" Emmett elbowed him.

He titled his face slightly towards me. "Oh I've seen her."

I scowled. I didn't miss his reference to our bathroom run in last night.

"So," Jasper started. "Are you hungry?"

"Sure." I sat down on the barstool next to him. "What do you guys have?" In a penthouse this extravagant, I couldn't even imagine what amazing food would be waiting for me.

"Well we have cereal," he gestured to the bowl in front of him. "And we have bagels," he pointed to Emmett with his spoon. "And Pop Tarts."

"That's it?"

"No we also have Pop Tarts of the Smore variety if Strawberry isn't your thing."

"Wow." I spun from side to side on my stool. "So you guys don't like…cook?"

Jasper took a big gulp of cereal, Edward paused as he broke off a piece of his pop tart, Emmett froze mid-chew.

"Us?" Emmett pointed to himself. "Bella…we're guys. We don't….cook."

Perfect, I thought. An excuse for me to go out today.

"Well," I smiled. "Since I'll be living here now I will gladly cook for you guys. I can't live on bagels, pop tarts and cereal. What do you guys want tonight?"

"Edward, what would _you_ like tonight?" Emmett smirked at Edward.

"It's his birthday," Jasper whispered.

"Oh!" I jumped slightly. "Happy Birthday Edward. How old are you?"

"Twenty three," he said through clenched teeth. It made me think that birthdays weren't really his thing. But then again he was an ass all the time, why should his birthday be any different.

"So what would you like for your birthday dinner?" I tried to smile.

"Oh you really don't…you don't have to do th-"

"Bro," Emmett slapped his back. "A chick is offering to make you dinner. You don't say no to that."

"Ummm. Okay. Well. I like….steak. I guess."

"Sounds good. I'll go to the store today." I turned to go back to my room and get dressed.

"Ahem." I was surprised by this voice. It wasn't a guy's voice. I spun around to see a short, tiny brunette hopping onto Jasper's lap. "Are you going to introduce me Jasper?"

"Oh right." Jasper shook his head. "Bella this is my Alice."

I smiled and reached my hand out to shake Alice's. "Right. You were at dinner."

"That was me." She seemed incredibly friendly.

"So you're Aro's….?"

"Arm candy. It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it." She smiled.

"And you're Jasper's…?"

She looked lovingly towards Jasper. "Soul mate, other half, one true love." She leaned in and pecked him on the lips. "So Bella, what are you up to today?"

"Well I was going to go shopping…"

Her face lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. "Shopping?"

"For food sweetheart. Not clothes." The fireworks in her eyes faded. "She likes to shop," Jasper said, explaining her sudden change in mood.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"No worries." She hopped up off Jasper's lap and started towards the hallway. "We'll go some other time. I'd better go get Rose up, we have to go to some kind of Charity polo match with Aro this afternoon." She disappeared down the hallway.

"Rose?" I looked back at the boys.

"Rose would be my lady." Emmett grinned.

"Your lady Dimples?," I teased. "You sure don't act like you have a lady."

"Naw. I just kid around a lot. I'm proudly taken. And man is she smoking hot." He stared off into the distance as if he were remembering something.

"So Edward, when is your secret girlfriend going to magically appear?"

"I don't have time for that." He finished the last bit of his pop tart and started down the hall. The bathroom door slammed shut and the sounds of the shower echoed down the hallway.

"Well I guess I'd better go get ready. Dinner at 7?"

"Sure thing," Jasper said, rinsing his bowl off in the sink.

It didn't take me long to get ready. I just pulled on a long sleeve plain shirt and shorts and pulled my hair into a low ponytail. As I left the penthouse, I noticed a small door to the side of the hallway. I inched closer, examining it. It flew open to reveal a wall full of muscle standing before me.

"Hello Bella, I don't think we've been formally introduced." The man held out his hand. "Demetri."

I shook his hand. I thought he had looked familiar, I recognized him from the warehouse.

"Hello Demetri. What is this place?" I tried to peak behind him but he was just too…big.

"You think we'd have the boss's associates living up here without security?" He laughed. "We've got a small room back here with security cameras on all entrances. Felix and I are here pretty much all the time, except for when the boss needs us."

"Oh."

"You heading out for the day?" His eyes raked me over, lingering longer than necessary on my chest. I crossed my arms in front of me.

"Yeah I'm heading out to get some groceries. I'm making dinner for Edward's birthday tonight."

"Oh that's nice. Have a good day then."

"Yeah you too." I turned and left, fully aware of his eyes following me all the way to the elevator.

The grocery store was crowded as ever. I had to weave in and out of the people in every aisle. This was good of course for my purpose for being here. Or at least one of my purposes. A man stepped beside me as I pondered over the raw steaks at the deli.

"How's the weather today?" Carlisle said, looking over the seafood section.

"Pretty fair. Heard about a cold front coming in." I didn't look at him.

"When's that?"

"Not sure. Maybe a month or so."

"Hm." He bent down to examine the meat more closely, then turned towards me and smiled. "I guess I'll have to keep my umbrella handy." Rolling up the newspaper he held in his hand, he walked away.

At least that was over with. It was our "just checking up on you" meeting. Fair weather meant everything was going fine. Cold front was the code word for a possible drug deal. Aro hadn't talked much about anything upcoming, but I couldn't imagine he could go more than a month without something. Carlisle wouldn't get in touch until then now that he knew I was okay.

I finished up my grocery shopping and headed back to the penthouse. I struggled to get all of the bags back, but was quickly helped at the front door by the bellhop. Demetri took over once I got on our floor. With a sigh and a quick thank you to Demetri I started unpacking the food.

"Bella. So nice to see you again!" Aro stood up from the couch and came towards me, kissing me on the cheek.

"Aro. I wasn't expecting to see you here." I smiled at him.

"Well I don't come here often, I like to leave you guys your space. I was just checking in and talking some business with everyone. Speaking of business, we have a small meeting with some of the Denali clan in a few days. I'm sending you with Edward, so you can see how things are run and meet them."

"Great."

He turned to leave.

"Oh Aro. We're celebrating Edward's birthday tonight. Will you join us?" Earning brownie points with the boss was a big plus. It couldn't hurt to invite him tonight.

"I wish I could Bella but I have other plans. You enjoy yourselves. Happy Birthday Edward." He walked out the door. I hadn't noticed Edward leaning against the wall at the entrance to the hallway.

Emmett helped me prepare the steaks, even though he had no idea what he was doing. I decided to do steak kabobs after seeing the absolutely amazing grill on the absolutely amazing balcony that I had failed to notice last night.

"Okay Emmett. You turn it on here." I demonstrated where the "on" button for the grill is. I thought guys were supposed to know how to grill, even if they didn't cook. "Just keep flipping all the kabobs so they don't burn. I'll be back in a little bit. I need to bake Edward's cake."

"Why are you being so nice to him Bella? I know he hasn't been nice to you." He kept a straight face as he flipped the kabobs.

"I don't know." And I really didn't. "It's his birthday. I guess I think everyone deserves to feel special on their birthday. Even if they're a pathetic prick like Edward."

I took my time icing the cake once it had cooled long enough. I even bought some candles at the store today. I covered it and set it aside for later. Edward would have a bitch fit if he saw it now.

"Bella I think they're done!" Emmett yelled from out on the porch. I ran out to check.

"Perfect!" I said, pulling the kabobs off the grill and onto a plate.

"Boys! Dinner!"

We decided to eat on the balcony as the sun set over the city.

We all laughed and joked around the entire time, even Edward. It was like he was finally letting his guard down, if that was even possible.

"Bella this was absolutely awesome." Jasper wiped his face with his napkin.

"So good. So good." Emmett's was tucked into the neck of his shirt as he devoured his 4th kabob.

Everyone's eyes shifted to Edward.

"Yeah it was great. Thanks." He pushed his plate away unenthusiastically.

"Well there's one more thing." I smiled at ran inside to grab the cake and light the candles.

Edward's eyes got big as I walked outside carrying the cake.

"Happy Birthday. Make a wish." I set the cake down in front of him.

He stared long and hard at the cake.

"I wish you wouldn't have done all this." His eyes didn't leave the flames. I dropped the cake cutter I was holding.

I jumped as Emmett's fist slammed down on the table.

"I think I've just lost my appetite." He walked over to me and patted me on the back. "That was the best dinner I've ever had. Thanks." He kissed my cheek and walked away.

My shoulders heaved up and down as I stared at Edward.

"That's my cue to leave." Jasper put his napkin on the table and made a quick exit.

After a few moments composing myself I sat in the chair directly across from Edward, never taking my gaze away from him.

"Is there some reason that you're such a dick all the time, or did I do something to offend you?" I couldn't hold back the bite in my voice.

"I'm sorry, I just…" His face was pained as he looked at the cake.

"You're sorry. You're always sorry Edward!" My voice echoed into the night. "Why don't you just stop doing things to be sorry for? I'm not here to make your life a living hell; I'm just trying to do my job. It would be a lot easier for all of us if you would make an effort to tone down your….you." My arms gestured towards him. "I mean why? What have I done to you that's so horrible? I've only been here a day!" I gave up and stomped inside. "Happy fucking birthday," I muttered under my breath.

I grabbed my towel and my IPod, changing it to my angry music playlist, and headed for the bathroom. I made sure to lock the door this time.

No matter how hard of a day I had, a nice warm bath always took away all of my stress. Especially in a bath tub this nice. I didn't even realize I had dozed off, which I thought was fairly impossible considering the crazy screaming music that was playing in my ears.

When I awoke, I was suddenly aware that I wasn't alone when I saw movement in the corner of my eye.

"Geez I was wondering when you were going to wake up." Edward was sitting on the floor next to the bathtub, propped up against the wall with his head leaning back and his eyes slightly closed.

"What the hell! I thought I locked that door!" My eyes flew to the door. Sure enough the lock was no longer in the lock position.

"Please. I work for the Volturi. You don't think I can pick a lock?" He smiled a crooked smile.

"What do you want?" I rolled up my headphones and placed my IPod on the steps.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier. It was completely unacceptable. I was just never big on birthdays."

"You already apologized. Is there anything else?"

He laughed. "Well…there's one more thing."

He took one of the lit candles surrounding the bathtub and started lighting the candles on his birthday cake, which I now saw was sitting in his lap.

"Happy Birthday to me." He blew them all out in one breath.

He handed me a fork, then started digging in with his own.

I didn't move.

"Bella you know you want some." He teased me by waving the cake in front of my face. "This is fucking good cake. Just a little bite."

I finally gave in and took a bite.

"So why weren't you ever big on birthdays?" I asked as I took another bite.

"It's complicated."

My eyes narrowed at him.

"Okay fine." He took a large bite, pondering as he chewed. "My mom was a single parent growing up. She worked her ass off, but we still never had a lot of money. So we just kind of didn't do birthdays."

"What about your dad?"

"Never knew him. He took off when I was three."

"So where's your mother now? I mean you can surely afford to help her out now?"

He set his cake down.

"She died when I was nine," he said coldly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine."

I didn't ask any more questions about his family or his childhood. I could see how much it pained him. And after what he'd been through, I didn't want to cause him any more by bringing it up again.

"So what's your family like?"

"Well I'm really close to my mom. My dad and I…I mean we obviously love each other, we're family. But he wasn't around much. My mom and him split when I was a baby. Me and him…we definitely have our disagreements."

I told Edward all about my childhood. Well as much as I could anyway. He got the severely edited version of it. It was surprisingly easy to talk to him. He laughed when it was appropriate…and sometimes when it wasn't. He was serious when I told him about the sad times and sometimes managed a smile at the happy ones. His barrier was still up in full force, but I could see it starting to crumble.

"Oh my God. We ate the whole cake." I stared down at the empty cake pan.

"Shit." He smiled at me. A real genuine smile. The first I'd seen from him that didn't hold some element of disdain or sarcasm. I tilted my head slightly towards him. His eyes were bright and alive. He was kind of…sort of beautiful.

His eyes closed as he yawned.

"I'm going to go to bed, I'm exhausted. Tomorrow we'll go over some things about the Denali family." He stood up and headed for the door. "Thank you for the cake. It was really nice."

I nodded.

With one last crooked smile and a shake of his head he was gone.

I laid back in my now chilly bath water.

"This is weird," I said out loud to myself. I didn't feel at all like I was in some mob family. It felt surprisingly…normal. Like I was in a college dorm living with all of my friends. And Edward wasn't someone I knew from work, he was like the boy next door, with a semi-bad boy attitude. I wasn't ignorant to the little butterflies in my stomach that reacted to his every move. Even when I was pissed at him, they were still there, fluttering all over hell.

"This is bad news Bella," I whispered as I held my breath and disappeared under the water.

**A/N: Reviews are better than Birthday Cake Bathtime with Edward : )**


	5. Thank You Edward

"Okay so the Denalis are a family pretty similar to ours in numbers and power." Edward set his cup of coffee down as he slid into a booth by the window. "They run the Miami area."

"Are we…friendly with them?" I sat down opposite of him. He'd gone back to being his usual distant cold self this morning when we headed out to get coffee. Aro told him to take me on a tour of some of the Volturi hot spots for action and talk to me about the Denalis. Of course I'd already seen most of the "hot spots" while I was patrolling or on backup with Jake.

"Eh." He tilted his head to the side as he took a sip. "We're friendly, but you know how they say keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

I nodded.

"That's basically what its like. They're our most powerful ally, which also makes them our most powerful enemy. We're always suspicious, always watching them, even if we're sitting around drinking wine together. But that's how it is with everyone in the business. The only ones you can trust are those in your own family…and even then…" His eyes narrowed at me as he trailed off.

I gulped loudly. Maybe a little too loudly. If he was suspicious of me already then I was toast. _Say something Bella. Anything._

"Like the last guy." Crap. Wrong thing to say. I wasn't ready to talk about Jake with Edward. Not yet.

"The last guy?"

"Yeah. My predecessor. The one you had to burn." I took a sip of my coffee.

"Oh." He shook his head. "Right. I wasn't in the family then. But I heard about it. Turns out he was a cop. Asshole thought he could outsmart people like us." Edward chewed idly on his red plastic coffee stirrer as he gazed out the window. "Ah well." He began to stand. "One less for us to worry about. Shall we?" He gestured towards the door.

I stood up and tossed my cup in the trash before exiting the coffeehouse. It was nearly dinnertime when we got back to the penthouse. Edward slowed after we exited the elevator. His movements became apprehensive and cautious as he put his arm back to pull me behind him.

"Edward. What are you doing?"

"Shut up." His eyes never left the front door as he drew a handgun from inside his coat pocket.

Slowly, he inched towards the door. I gasped when I realized it was partially open. Inside it was completely black, no light at all. My mind began to race with worry. Jasper. Emmett. They were both in there. And what about that nice girl I met earlier. What if something happened to them?

The door squeaked as Edward pushed it open slightly with the barrel of his gun.

"Stay here," he whispered to me.

"No," I said in a harsh whisper. There was no way in hell I was staying here by myself.

"Stay. Here." He said through clenched teeth.

"Stop telling me what to do." I pushed myself past his restrain and into the dark room.

"Bella stop!" He ran out and threw himself in front of me again.

"Do you know what time it is?" This snickering voice came from the right. It sounded oddly familiar.

"Wait what day is it?" Edward turned to me.

"It's….Thursday."

He laughed, dropping his grip on my waist.

"Why are you laughing right now?" I stomped my foot.

"It's Thursday."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It's Shootout Night."

"What's shootout night?"

Before he could answer, the lights suddenly flicked on as Jasper and Emmett ran towards us. I screamed in surprise and grasped at Edward only to be pelted by a stream of water shooting from the Super Soakers that the boys were holding.

"Run!" Edward laughed as he pushed me into our hallway and into the bathroom. He slammed the door behind us as I began ringing out my hair.

"What the hell…"

"It's Shootout." He reached under the sink and pulled out two huge water guns. "We play it every Thursday." Edward bent over the sink, filling them both up. "I guess it's us versus them. You ready?" He tossed a gun my way.

"I guess." I pumped the gun a few times.

"First team to completely soak the other wins." He peaked his head out the door.

"Come out you pussies!" Emmett laughed from behind the couch. They had it flipped up on its side and the pillows taken off it and arranged like a fort.

"Why…exactly do you do this?"

"Because its fun." He smiled his crooked smile. For some reason it made me incredibly happy that he was so giddy about a stupid game.

He threw the door open and we charged into the living room fearless.

A half hour later I was crouched behind the bar in the kitchen, watching the room cautiously. Edward and I had been separated about ten minutes ago and I haven't seen either of the enemy clan since then.

"We might have something of yours Bella…." Emmett laughed and peaked his camo painted face out of the pillow fort.

"And what's that?" I yelled back as I pumped my water gun a few times.

"Don't listen to them Bella. Just let them take me!" I peaked my head around the corner of the bar. Edward was sitting just outside the fort with his hands tied behind his back. Emmett had the gun pointed to the back of his head.

"Surrender or the chump gets it!"

"Don't do it!" Edward yelled back. "We don't surrender…..ever." Edward nodded towards me as I heard a slight movement behind me. I whipped around, gun pointed and shot a steady stream of water into Jasper's face.

"Damn it!" He threw down his Super Soaker.

"What the hell Jazz? You let a girl get you!" Emmett started throwing a temper tantrum.

I grabbed Jasper's gun and mine and ambushed Emmett, who was in the middle of stomping around. It was over within a matter of seconds.

"Very impressive," Edward said as I untied his arms.

"Thanks."

There was a knock at the door and Demetri entered the apartment.

"Aw man. You played Shootout without me?" He seemed genuinely disappointed.

"Sorry D. You got replaced and outplayed by a girl." Emmett slapped him on the back. "She didn't even fall for the surrender attack."

"Thanks for making me look bad gorgeous." He winked at me.

"Sorry," I shrugged my shoulders.

"So what are you doing tonight?" It seemed like he was asking everyone, but his eyes stayed on me.

"Umm. I don't know….nothing." I looked around for an answer.

"Well then you should come to Tony's with us. All of you." Demetri smiled.

Edward's eyes narrowed at Demetri. They were stern, cold again. This guy and his mood swings were totally throwing me for a loop. One second he's laughing and having a good time with his buddies, the next he's giving this guy a death stare. I didn't understand it.

"Did someone say Tony's?" Alice flitted into the room and into Jasper's arms. "Babe you're all wet. What happened?"

"Bella wasted me in Shootout."

"You're kidding? Nice job Bella." She reached out and gave me a high five. "So Tony's? We're going right?"

"What's Tony's?"

"A stupid bar," Edward said flatly. He leaned against the wall crossing his arms.

"It is not!" Alice protested. "Oh my God Bella it's so much fun we have to go!" She grabbed at my arms.

"Oh Alice, I would but I don't…really have anything to wear."

"Bella. You're talking to me. I have a whole closet full of things for you to wear. Give me your next excuse that I will have some solution to."

"Okay fine. But as long as everyone goes." I turned to the boys.

"I'm in," Emmett said.

""You know if Alice goes then I'm going," Jasper conceded.

The man leaning against the wall brooding was silent.

"Edward?"

"Fine. Whatever." He stalked off.

"Yay!" Alice started jumping up and down. "Bella you go take a shower and I'll go pick out some clothing options. Boys go get ready. We'll rendezvous back here in an hour and a half." She shushed me down the hallway towards the bathroom.

Ten minutes later I heard the door open as I was washing the shampoo out of my hair.

"Edward?"

"No it's Alice silly. Why would it be Edward?" I heard her opening drawers and clanking things together. That was embarrassing. I'd just been so used to Edward coming in when I was in here, it was like second nature. I'd even come in here a few times to brush my teeth while he was in the shower.

"Okay do you like red, blue, black, or silver?"

"For what?"

"Just pick one Bella."

"Okay silver." I reached out and grabbed a towel to wrap around myself.

A small piece of silver fabric flew in front of my face.

"What the hell is that?"

"Your dress."

"Where's the rest of it?"

"This is it silly."

I shook my head. "Alice I can't wear that, are you kidding me?"

"Put it on. Now. You wanted me to dress you. I'm dressing you."

I pushed the dress away. "No Ali-."

"Bella." Her eyes seared into mine.

"Fine." I turned and slipped the dress on as I dropped the towel.

"Whee! Look at you. You are so beautiful Bella. Why do you always cover up?" She started adjusting the dress across my body. Then she started tugging at my hair. "Okay sit."

"Alice I can do my own hair."

"Nonsense. I'm giving you a makeover tonight. Just sit and relax. You're going to be a knockout."

An hour later I was walking, rather stumbling out of the bathroom in sky-high heels and this ridiculous dress. I didn't get a good look at myself before Alice ushered me out of the bathroom, but I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous.

Alice skipped ahead of me into the living room.

"Presenting the new and glamorous Bella!" She gestured grandly towards me as I stepped out meekly.

The boys and Demetri were standing around the bar taking shots. They all froze when their eyes settled on me. This was embarrassing. She must have made me look like a clown. I cleared my throat and debated running on the door, but opted for starting back towards the hallway.

"Bella where are you going?" Alice grabbed my arm and pulled me back out.

"Alice I look ridiculous. I mean look." I gestured back towards the boys, who were still speechless, mouths gaping.

"Bella they look like that because you look smoking hot. Not because you look bad." She tipped her head towards them. "Jasper stop staring and close your mouth." He took his shot and smiled sarcastically at her.

"Let's go boys, we're ready."

Alice pulled me directly to the bar once we arrived, shoving various shots of alcohol my way. I was drunk before we'd been there a half hour. I was a lightweight and I knew it, which was why I didn't frequent bars much. Jake and I had gotten a bunch of tequila the night of our graduation. That was the last time I'd been this drunk.

"Alish," I mumbled. "You can't let me drink….anything else." I exaggerated my point by throwing my hands out to the side. I accidentally popped Edward right in the side of the head.

"Edward!" I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, laughing hysterically. "I'm sorry. I'm a little tipsy."

"I can see that." There was no humor in his voice. "Alice I think she's had enough.. I'm taking her home." He put his hand on the small of my back and started to lead me towards the door.

"No!" I pushed him away. "I'm not ready to go yet! I haven't even danced." I pointed out to the dance floor.

"Bella."

"No Edward. I. Want. To dance." I strutted out on the dance floor to join Emmett and Rosalie, who had shown up the same time we did. This was definitely another indicator that I was drunk. I don't dance. At all. But there I was, shaking my groove thing all around the dance floor not giving a rat's ass. Alice and Jasper joined us as Edward took a seat at the bar, his eyes set on the dance floor.

I stuck my tongue out at him and turned away.

"Why is Edward just a dick sometimes?" I asked Alice.

"No clue. He's just like that. Ever since I first met him. I guess I've just grown immune to it." She danced away with Jasper. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and a body close behind me.

"Geez it's about time you stopped being a Scrooge." Without thinking I snaked my hands up and around his neck. But this neck was taller than Edward's neck should be. I felt up to his hair. Definitely not Edward's shaggy beautiful bronze hair. It was short, almost buzzed. I spun around.

"Demetri." I brought my hands down. "I thought you were Edward." I stumbled slightly to the side. His arms held me up.

"He doesn't dance as good as I do." He smiled and started dancing with me.

I started moving to the music too. It wasn't a big deal. We were just dancing. But then his hands drifted south from my waist. I pushed against his chest.

"Demetri. Stop." I pushed harder. He wasn't budging and his hands were roaming other places.

"Come on Bella. I see how you look at me." He leaned closer and kissed my neck. I couldn't escape. I was trapped. It didn't help that I couldn't put one foot in front of the other.

"Get. Off. Me!" I pushed harder.

"Get the hell off of her!" Edward yelled as he pulled Demetri's grip off me. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Mind your own business Edward." Demetri reached out for me again, but Edward stepped in between us.

"Back. The fuck. Off."

"Fine," Demetri said as he stomped off.

I started feeling dizzy. "Edward. Take me home. I need to go to bed." I stumbled forward and my knees gave out. He caught me and tried to help me walk. I blacked out as he scooped me up into his arms.

I finally came to just as we, or I guess he, was walking through the door to the penthouse.

"You can put me down," I said softly.

He looked down at me and nodded slightly before setting me on my feet. I was a little bit wobbly but able to stand at least.

"Hey Edward thanks…you know for what you d-"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupted.

"Okay." I looked down at my unsteady feet. "I think I'm going to go take a bath to wind down a little bit." I turned and stumbled down the hallway, occasionally bumping into the walls.

The bath was amazing, as usual. My eyes kept turning towards the door, waiting for him to come in. My heart stopped everytime I heard some movement outside the door. He never came.

I finally got out when my fingers started turning all pruney. I tried to wrap the towel around myself, which was quite difficult considering I was still drunk. As I reached for the door handle I heard loud voices from inside the apartment. I definitely heard Alice and Emmett. They all must be home. I paused. The voices eventually died down as they walked down their hallway. I was just about to exit the bathroom when the door creaked open and Edward rushed inside.

"Good. You're still in here."

"Yeah I was just heading to bed."

"Bella you can't sleep in your room."

"Why not?"

"Because I know Demetri. That little stunt he pulled earlier isn't going to be the end of it. He's out in the kitchen eating some leftovers right now waiting for everyone to go to bed."

"Well whatever, I'll lock the door." I started to push past him.

Edward grabbed my arm forcefully. "You don't think he knows how to pick a lock. He's a security expert."

I swayed to the left and right. All this drama was intensifying my drunken symptoms.

"Edward you're being ridiculous."

His eyes darted towards the kitchen. "You'll sleep in my room tonight. Come on." He grabbed my hand and led me towards his room, his eyes always fixed on the kitchen.

"Here you can wear these." He threw me the same pair of sweatpants of his that I'd worn earlier, as well as white wife beater tank top. He turned as I changed, almost falling multiple times.

When I turned around he had changed as well, or better yet just undressed. He only wore sweatpants similar to mine. My eyes lingered on his perfect bare chest. I'm pretty sure I unconsciously licked my lips. He was utterly delicious, even when he was being absolutely absurd. _Stop thinking like that Bella, you're just drunk. Snap out of it. _I shook my head.

"Umm. You can have the bed." His eyes gestured towards the large bed on the other side of his room.

"No that's okay I don't want to kick you out of your own bed."

"No I insist. I'll sleep on the floor." He took a pillow off the bed and grabbed an extra blanket out of his closet. I was half contemplating just telling him to sleep in the bed with me, but I held back. That'd be an awkward wakeup tomorrow.

"Okay fine." I crawled into his bed and settled in. I breathed deeply as the covers enveloped me. I turned my face in towards the pillow. It smelled like him. I smiled.

"Goodnight Edward."

"Uh. Goodnight." He sounded like he was taken aback by my words. He flicked off the lights and I heard him settle onto the floor.

I soon drifted off into a deep, much needed sleep, but not before I heard Demetri's footsteps creep up the hallway and go into my room. _Thank you Edward_.


	6. Stalemate

The creaking of the door woke me the next morning.

"Sorry," Edward said as he closed the door behind him.

I sat up, forgetting momentarily where I was.

"Oh it's okay. What time is it?" I relaxed a little back into the covers, pulling them up around my body.

"Almost noon. I got hungry." He smiled slightly as he held up the box of Chinese food.

I shook my head in disbelief. I never sleep that late, even when I have nights like last night. Maybe it was this bed. Or maybe it was just because it was Edward's bed.

He sat back down on his bundle of blankets on the floor and opened his box of food.

"Edward don't be ridiculous, you don't have to sit on the floor."

He stopped as his eyes pondered back and forth between the bed and his spot. After a few moments he slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed, farthest away from me, crossing his legs in front of him.

"Hey I know I already said it last night…" I paused in thought, "Well I think I said it last night, but thank you for rescuing me."

"It was nothing." He chowed down on his Sweet and Sour Chicken.

"No Edward, it was." My hand instinctively reached out and brushed against his arm. He froze and looked up at me. "You were right..about Demetri. I heard him go into my room last night." I shrugged my shoulders. "You really did save me."

"Yeah I'm going to have to speak with Aro about that. That was completely unacceptable." He went back to his food.

"No you don't…you don't have to do that."

"I do."

"Edward…"

"Not another word. It's done."

"Fine." My eyes scanned the room. I didn't really get a chance to see it last night, but it was a pretty awesome room. It was painted a deep red, very dark. There was a whole wall of shelving filled with records. Band and concert posters covered most of the wall above his bed. There was a large plush chair in the corner of the room that was absolutely covered in books, so much so you wouldn't know there was a chair there. Newspapers littered the floor.

"How long did you say that you lived here?"

"A few months."

I scooted closer and took one the chopsticks he was holding. I laughed at his death stare as I impaled a piece of his chicken and plopped it in my mouth.

"So how did you get into the business?" I sat back and enjoyed the food.

"Well. Like I said before my mom died when I was little and I never knew my dad. I kept getting pushed from foster family to foster family until I was eighteen. Then I was pretty much kicked out on my ass. After struggling for a few years, a guy I'd met got me in touch with his boss, who used to be a big timer here, and I started doing little jobs for him." He set down the box. "Then a few months ago, the boss had just stepped down and his business all went to shambles. I was having lunch at the same place as Aro, and I guess someone had put a hit on him. I saw the guy pull out the gun and aim it at Aro and I jumped on him and knocked him down before he could shoot. Aro gave me a job for saving his life."

"Wow. That's intense."

"Yeah."

I hopped out of the bed and waltzed over to his record collection, scanning through to try and lighten the mood.

"So what's your favorite?"

He smiled and joined me in front of his collection.

"I like a lot of stuff. Van Morrison…Kings of Leon…"

"You have good taste." I smiled and fingered through the shelves to find Van Morrison. I pulled it out and put it on the record player.

Edward closed his eyes and leaned against the shelves, humming softly to the music. I stood and just watched him as his face changed and lifted through the song. It was like he was transforming right in front of my eyes. When he opened his eyes again they were the warmest I'd ever seen them. A brilliant emerald green.

"Dance with me." His voice was soft, silky. Smooth like velvet. Almost charming. His hand reached out towards mine.

"I…don't dance."

His eyes stared into mine, holding my gaze. "Bella." He leaned in and smiled. "Dance with me," he said again slowly. He took my hand in his and pulled me close, bringing his other hand to the small of my back as we twirled slowly around.

He stopped us and brought his hand to my chin, tipping it up slowly. He's going to kiss me. I swallowed hard as he moved closer, his face mere inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face and I leaned closer in anticipation. His finger ran softly across my jaw line and up behind my ear, eventually cradling the side of my face as he pulled me in. I gently pushed my forehead into his as my eyes fluttered closed. _This is it_, I thought as I pushed my lips closer to his.

"Dude." Emmett burst in the door. "Have you seen Bel" He froze mid-sentence at the sight before him. Edward's hand instantly dropped from my face and moved to his forehead. "Sor-ry," Emmett said slowly, his eyes glancing from Edward to me and back again.

"It's fine Emmett. What is it?" Edward looked down at his feet.

"Um. Bella?"

"Yeah." The squeak in my voice was noticeable.

"Aro wants to speak with you. He's at the warehouse."

Slight panic ripped through my body. Had he found me out? Why would he want to meet me at the warehouse? Should I break the code of silence and call Carlisle?

"Did he say what it was about?" My feet shuffled from side to side.

"Nothing serious. I think he's just checking on you to make sure we're all treating you alright." He laughed nervously.

"Oh. Okay. I guess…I should go then." I stole a quick glance at Edward, who still wasn't looking at me. "I'll see you later," I mumbled and headed out of the room, closing the door behind me.

"Edward what the hell was that?" I could hear Emmett through the door. I stood and listened, absentmindedly twirling a strand of my hair.

"I. I don't know. I wasn't thinking. Nothing happened. It was a mistake."

I winced. Ouch. That hurt. Maybe he was just covering in front of Emmett.

"Bella!"

I spun around quickly.

"Jasper! You scared me."

"What are you doing?"

"Um. Nothing. Just going to see Aro." I started towards the front door.

"Oh. I'll drive you." He smiled and grabbed the keys. I felt a little relieved that he was going with me. I don't know what it was that made me trust Jasper, but I did.

The warehouse looked dramatically different from the last time I was here. There was no elaborate dining room table, no smorgasbord, no party. Just a plain practically empty warehouse.

"He's up in his office," Jasper gestured up the stairs.

I walked confidently up the stairs, hoping that there wasn't a bullet with my name on it waiting for me on the other side. I knocked and waited.

"Yes?" Aro's voice called.

"It's Bella."

"Oh yes. Please come in."

I opened the door and stepped inside. It was just him. Nobody else. I was fairly certain I was in the clear now. If he wanted to have me killed, he surely wouldn't be the one to get his hands dirty.

"Please have a seat." He smiled at me. "So how is everything going with you? Are you adjusting okay?"

"Yes Aro. Everything is amazing. Thank you so much for your hospitality."

"Of course. I'm glad you are enjoying yourself. And you're getting along with everyone I hope?"

I shrugged. "Yeah for the most part."

"I've just been on the phone with Edward."

My heart fluttered at the sound of his name, but my blood boiled because I knew why he had called.

"If it's about Demetri…"

"It is. And Bella that was completely unacceptable. I apologize for his behavior. It won't happen again I assure you. Demetri…"

I closed my eyes in embarrassment as Demetri entered the room.

Aro tilted his head towards me.

"I'm very sorry Bella. I was out of line and it won't happen again." The apology wasn't sincere and I could tell he was forced to say it, but I believed Aro. It wouldn't happen again. Not if Demetri wanted to keep all of his testicles.

"Thank you Demetri. Apology accepted."

"You're dismissed Demetri." Aro flicked his wrist away. It was like he was a dog. Called and pushed away when his master commanded.

"Well I don't want to keep you Bella. I'm sure you'll be wanting to get ready…"

"Get ready?" I hadn't heard about anything to get ready for.

"For the charity ball of course."

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know anything about it."

"Oh dear. I did rely on Emmett to tell you. That boy sure is strong but sometimes I wonder if he's all there." Aro tapped on his temple as we both laughed. "It's some charity about saving the children or something like that. They're going with a Great Gatsby theme so I took the liberty of having an appropriate dress set in your room for you. I hope you enjoy yourself."

I stood up and turned to leave. "Thank you Aro. Will we be seeing you later?"

"You shall." He nodded as I left out the door.

Jasper drove us back to the penthouse. I knocked on Edward's door. No answer. I checked in Emmett's room, no Edward. No Edward anywhere. I really wanted to yell at him for telling Aro about Demetri. I gave up and went back to my room to start getting ready for the evening. The room was dark as I entered, my hand fumbled around the wall for the switch.

I gasped as I turned it on, realizing that I wasn't alone.

"I've been waiting for you…" Alice said.

I laughed. "Well that's not at all creepy."

She was sitting on the edge of my bed, her legs bouncing up and down on the floor.

"What's up Alice?"

"I was just checking…to see if you needed help getting ready tonight?"

I eyed her suspiciously. "Really Alice? That's why you waited like a stalker in my dark room for me?"

Her eyes shifted back and forth. "Well….not really. Just partially."

"Okay spit it out." I walked over to the bed and sat next to her.

She didn't look at me. "So…you and Edward…"

"Oh God. Who told you…"

She turned towards me and started talking very rapidly. "Well Emmett told Rosalie, and Rosalie naturally being Jasper's twin told him, and he told me and then he asked me to ask you about it."

"Why didn't he just ask me about it?"

"I don't know. He's a guy. He doesn't talk about stuff like that. So what's the story?"

"Nothing." My eyes shifted down to my hands.

"Nothing ay?" She raised her eyebrow. "I guess we'll see about that. I don't know who will be able to resist you in that dress." She glanced towards my closet.

On the closet door hung a long silk navy blue dress, with a dramatically low back.

"How the hell am I supposed to wear a bra with that?"

Alice winked. "You don't." She got up and started towards the door. "Wear your hair in a low messy bun to the side." She closed the door behind her.

I stared at the dress. I didn't want to move. Dresses like that scared me. I decided to do everything else that I could possibly do to get ready before I put it on. I did my hair, like Alice told me so she wouldn't yell at me later, and did my makeup. I think I shaved my legs at least three times and touched up my lipstick about five. When I couldn't do anything else to get ready I slipped the dress off the hanger and shivered as I pulled it over my body. Thank God there was a built in bra. It was too chilly tonight for the ladies to be out there by themselves.

I slipped some shoes on and grabbed my silver clutch and was ready to go.

"Hello gorgeous." Emmett winked at me as I walked into the living room. My eyes scanned the room for Edward. He wasn't there.

"Here Bella, Aro sent these for you." Jasper held out a huge black box. He opened it to reveal an amazingly exquisite diamond necklace, complete with matching bracelet and ring. My fingers dragged across them.

"I'm supposed to wear these?" I was shocked. They must have been worth millions.

Jasper laughed and grabbed the necklace so he could put it on me. "That is the idea of jewelry."

My fingers ran over the stones again as he clipped it around my neck.

"Thank you Jasper. Um. Where's Edward?"

"Edward went ahead of us. He'll be there don't worry." He smirked. I had a feeling Alice had talked to him about our conversation earlier, and although I know I didn't outright say anything, I think I gave Alice all the reaction she needed.

"Al? Are you guys ready?" He shouted back into the hallway.

"Yeah we're coming right now."

Alice and Rosalie started down the hallway looking beyond perfect. Alice sported a slinky black dress, while Rosalie was gorgeous in red. They both took their guys by the arm and we were off, the two perfect couples and the 5th wheel. Edward could have had the decency to at least walk in with me so I wouldn't look like the goofy single girl. It was okay to be a loner guy at these types of things, but it just made girls feel weird.

"Bella you look beautiful. He'll love it," Alice whispered to me in the backseat.

"Alice!" I scolded.

She just laughed.

We pulled into a fancy hotel; almost as nice as the one we stay in. The valet took the car as we walked up the grand steps. Jasper handed the doorman all of our invitations and we headed inside.

We were directed to a large ballroom that had a great staircase that led down to the main floor, which was decorated impeccably with a 1920's feel. Most of the guys wore pinstripe suits and fedoras and the girls looked like they could have just walked out of a "flapper" movie. A jazz band played on the stage at the front of the dance floor.

I spotted Edward across the floor. His eyes connected with mine for a moment and I smiled. He looked away. Maybe he didn't see me.

"Our table is this way," Jasper mentioned. He pointed to an empty table to the side of the stage. I took my seat as Jasper and Emmett pulled their dates onto the dance floor. I looked around anxiously for my knight in shining pinstripe, hoping he would come and save me from sitting here all by myself. I finally did find him. He was talking with some other girl, leaning his arm on the wall above her.

"Who the fuck is she?" I said to myself, straining my neck to get a better look. That fucker is completely ignoring me.

"Excuse me miss, may I have this dance?" Some random guy held out his hand.

"Yeah sure." I took it without looking, keeping my eyes on Edward and whoever that little tramp was that he was talking to. I didn't care to dance, but it might give me a better look.

Whoever I was dancing with twirled me around the floor trying to make small talk. When I didn't respond he just kept talking. My eyes were fixed across the room. Edward slowly leaned down closer to the girl's face.

"This way Romeo…" I took the lead and started towards Edward. He still didn't acknowledge that I was even there. Geez the other night, he came right to me when…when Demetri started dancing with me. I was finally starting to get it. He felt threatened the other night. This yahoo I was dancing with didn't present a challenge to him. I needed to find the most gorgeous guy in here and get him to dance with me, and I got bonus points if I could look like I was enjoying it.

"Sorry you won't do…" I looked apologetically at the confused man and stepped away, brushing past Edward. I swear I saw him snicker my way. I sat at my table scanning the crowd, looking for the perfect target. I finally found him. Standing at the bar ordering himself a drink.

I walked over the bar and stood next to him, making sure that he noticed me stealing glances at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He turned towards me and smiled.

"No but you can dance with me." I flashed him a smile that I knew he couldn't refuse.

"Of course." I took his hand as he led me out on the dance floor. This time I didn't keep my eyes on Edward. I smiled, and laughed, and looked right at this beautiful boy I was dancing with. I'm sure it was a perfectly executed display of pure enjoyment. By the third song, I decided I could chance a look. I turned my head slightly. Edward's eyes were wide as I'd ever seen them, looking directly at us. I turned back to my partner and leaned into his ear.

"Just go with it," I whispered.

I grabbed his hand from my waist and lowered it slightly before wrapping my arm around his neck and giggling. I only saw Edward heading straight for us after my dance partner had spun me around. He adamantly tapped the guy on the shoulder with a determined and frightening look on his face.

"Can I cut in?"

The guy contemplated. "I guess so." I think I would be just as terrified if Edward looked at me that way.

Edward took my waist as the other guy walked away.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" He pulled me close.

I smiled. "Yes."

"Bella this can't happen."

"Why not?" I put my lips right next to his ear.

"Because I'm serious about my job."

"So am I." I ran my finger down his chest and rested it at his waistline.

"Bella!" He yelled as he pushed me back.

I winced back, completely hurt by what he'd just done. I felt the tears start to form at the corner of my eyes.

"Bella I'm sor…" His hand reached out towards me.

I didn't wait to hear more; I spun around and stomped off the dance floor.

"Bella wait!" He threw his hands up in the air and sighed.

I found a dark corner and stayed there while the tears poured out. This guy made no sense to me. Was I just a toy to him? All he knows how to do is be a dick and then charm it away. It was a never-ending cycle. I heard a disruption on the stage.

"Buddy what do you think you're doing?" The bandmaster shouted.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. _"Um hello. Sorry for the interruption."

My head peaked from the darkness. "What the hell was that fool doing now?"

"I just need to do something…important. So if you could just indulge me. I'd like to dedicate this one to my Dirty Diana." He cleared his throat and began to sing.

"_She's saying that's ok…Hey baby do what you please…I have the stuff that you want…I am the thing that you need_." The band started to play along.

"_She looked me deep in the eyes…She's touchin' me so to start…She says there's no turnin' back…She trapped me in her heart…_" He looked directly at me on the last line.

It was too much. I bolted. Up the stairs, out the doors and down the street. Ten minutes later I was on my way back home, walking down the street.

"Bella. Get in the car." Edward had been driving beside me for the past five minutes.

"No. Leave me alone." I wiped the tears and kept walking.

He didn't leave me alone, he didn't say another word. He just drove next to me the entire way home, completely ignoring the honks and angry expletives yelled at him for driving so damn slow. When we got home he parked the car and met me at the elevator.

"I can't win with you…" He shook his head and looked down.

I turned towards him, absolutely livid. "You can't win with me? Edward all you ever do is win me over and then do the next thing to completely break me. Is this some kind of game for you?"

"You don't get it Bella. It's complicated." The elevator door opened and I stomped out and into the penthouse.

"Complicated? That's bullshit. You're just using it as an excuse!"

"Oh really? Am I? You have NO idea how complicated this all is. If Aro were to find out and he didn't like it, we'd both lose our jobs or maybe he'd just kill us for the fun of it."

"What about Emmett and Rose…and Alice and Jasper…he knows about them and they're still breathing."

"That's because it doesn't affect them doing their jobs. They work in completely different parts of the business. If we were….us I'd constantly be worrying about you doing what we do. It'd make me weak Bella. I can't be weak in this job." Our fight had taken us to the doors of our bedrooms.

"Fine you stubborn asshole!" I turned and slammed the door behind me.

"Fine!" He yelled back at me and then did the same.

I went straight to bed. No bath time, no Edward time, no bath time with Edward time. We were both at a standstill and way too inflexible and proud to concede our ground. A complete stalemate.


	7. An Equal and Opposite Reaction

**A/N: So you may notice a ** towards the end of the chapter. I've decided I think that a song fits so well with this part of the chapter that I'm going to warn you and then give you a clue to play it if you wish to do so, just like those sound books when you were little kids…So, if you'd like to do that please have "Breathe Me" by Sia ready and hit play when you get to the **. : )**

I sat banging my head gently on the headboard the next morning. With every thud, I heard "stupid, stupid, stupid." I glanced at the clock. It was nearly noon. I couldn't avoid it anymore. My stomach growled loudly. "Yeah yeah I'm getting up."

I crawled out of bed, walked tentatively towards the door, and inched it open. A whoosh of relief washed over me. Edward's door was closed. I tiptoed down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Aro please just listen to me."

I stopped before I reached the end of the hallway. Aro was here. And Edward was talking to him. What the hell was this all about? I crouched down and listened.

"Edward I am very confident in Bella's ability to handle herself on the job, why do you think otherwise?"

"It's just that she's still new and learning everything. And I…I just don't know if I trust her enough to handle a big job like the Denalis." He was pleading with Aro. That bastard. I needed this to put them away.

"She will go with you today to meet with the Denali's associates. It's a relatively small meeting, just the initial one to set up for the big one next month. She is perfectly capable Edward. That's my final say."

Edward knew better than to argue with Aro, so assuming their conversation was over I walked confidently into the room eyeing Edward.

"Bella." Aro smiled. "We were just talking about you."

"Yeah I heard."

Edward looked down, refusing to look at me.

"Well then. You and Edward will be going to meet with some of the Denali's people today to discuss our next business deal with them. The meeting is at two fifteen at the 5th street dock." He turned towards Edward. "Make sure to give her some heat." He smiled at me and left the room.

"Thanks for trying to throw me under the bus asshole." I poured my cereal into the bowl and sauntered back to my room.

By 1:30 we were on our way to the dock to check it out before the meeting. Edward hadn't spoken a word to me. The only communication we'd had was him sliding the pistol across the countertop to me before we left. I kept stealing glances at him as we rode the subway.

"So are you going to ignore me all day…?" I looked straight ahead. He didn't respond. "I'll take that as a yes."

We made it to the dock with about fifteen minutes left until they were supposed to be here. Edward did a quick scan of the dock area before he allowed me to come onto it. I told my eyes to avoid the spot by the dumpster. I didn't need to lose my focus right now worrying about Jake.

The dock looked a little different from when I was here. There were large wooden boxes scattered all around the place and some concrete blocks along the edge near the water. The boat's motor alerted me to their arrival.

Two men stepped off the boat and onto the dock. They both wore black t-shirts and black pants, very professional looking. Edward extended his hand to them.

"Laurent. James." Edward smiled. "How are ya? This is our newest associate," he gestured towards me. "Bella."

I put myself into work mode and walked forward, taking their hands and smiling warmly.

"And she's not one of Aro's arm candy?" James laughed. I rolled my eyes slightly.

"Nope. She is _perfectly capable_ of doing her job." I didn't miss the sarcasm in Edward's voice as he mocked Aro's words. He turned towards Laurent. "So how is business my friend?"

"Business is going fairly well. We have a big shipment coming in next week."

"Excellent." Edward sat on the edge of one of the large wooden boxes. "Speaking of business, the boss wanted to set something up for us." He crossed his arms. "We're looking to acquire some of your product in about a month. Could we arrange something?"

Laurent walked over and sat next to Edward. James walked idly in a circle in front of me.

"Actually Edward," Laurent leaned in towards him. "We have a different arrangement now." Edward's panicked eyes shot to me.

"Bella get out of here!" By the time I could comprehend his words it was too late.

Laurent grabbed Edward, holding his arms behind his back. Edward struggled against him. James pulled a pistol out of his jacket and aimed it directly at Edward's head.

"No Bella," he smirked. "Please stay. And while you're at it, you can toss me the gun you have on you." He cocked his pistol and put the steel right at Edward's temple.

I didn't need any convincing, not when Edward was concerned. All the anger and all the hate I felt for him earlier evaporated instantly. I bent down slowly and took the gun out of my ankle holster and slid it on the ground towards James. As soon as I straightened back up I felt the punch to my cheek. I hit the ground, hard. Then someone with extremely pointy toed shoes started kicking me in my ribs.

"Enough Victoria." Laurent said. I winced in pain as someone stood me up and pulled a knife on my throat.

Edward struggled harder against his grip.

"I would calm down if I was you Edward. That was supposed to be a little motivation for you to behave." Edward instantly froze.

I chanced a glance to the side of me. All I could see was long flowing red hair. It was a woman. That bitch probably broke my ribs.

"You're probably wondering why…we've decided to change our business arrangement." The woman behind me snickered.

"See," James continued. "We don't really like how powerful you guys are getting to be up here. We're starting to feel the repercussions of it way down in Miami. And if we feel the repercussions, you're going to feel the repercussions, get it?"

_They're going to kill us_, I thought. They wanted to send Aro a message. There was no way we were making it through this. The cement blocks suddenly had a lot more meaning than just idle objects. They were going to kill us and tie our bodies to the blocks. We wouldn't be found for months, if ever. The tears started to form in my eyes. I looked up at Edward. He knew too.

"I'm sorry…" He mouthed. His eyes were warm again, just like they had been back in his room.

James laughed at our exchange before smacking Edward on the side of the face with the butt of the gun. Edward shook his head and spit some blood from his mouth. I don't know what it was, but something inside me snapped. I felt the urge to…protect him. The burning anger within me began to rise exponentially. My breathing increased.

"Bella no. It's fine. Just calm down." Edward was comforting me. "I'm fine."

James and Laurent shared another laugh at our expense. With one quick movement I grabbed Victoria's arm and pulled her over my shoulder, slamming her to the ground. The knife flew out from her hand and landed in the water. An instant later the second gun I had in my jacket was out and pointed directly at James.

"Drop the gun now or so help me God I will shoot you." I placed my foot on Victoria's throat to hold her down.

"Whoa. Legs here thinks she's going to shoot me. Do you even know how to shoot a gun sweetheart?" He walked slowly towards me, provoking me.

Edward took his momentary distraction as an opportunity. He slammed his head back into Laurent's, freeing his arms. He and Laurent started wrestling around. Edward kicked him several times, leaving him motionless on the ground.

James turned slowly towards Edward. "Bad move Edward." He raised his gun to him and a shot rang out.

James fell to the ground. Bleeding from bullet wound in his head. I froze. I'd never shot a person before, except for in training. But that was all fake. This was as real as it got. Edward rushed over to me.

"Bella give me the gun." He tried to pry it from my still outstretched arms. He was finally able to get it away from me. I stood, still stunned, staring at the gaping wound in James. I barely noticed the movement beside us. Edward spun around quickly and emptied the rest of the bullets into Laurent, who was reaching for James's gun.

He started tugging at my shirt. "Bella we have to get out of here. The cops are coming." I could hear the sirens in the distance. "Now!" I couldn't move. My mind wouldn't tell my legs to move. Edward scooped me up and ran around the back of the dock just as the police cars were pulling up. He didn't stop running until we were a couple of streets down. He still held me in one arm as he pulled his phone out.

"Jazz. You need to come get us. The deal went bad. We're in the alley behind the Corner Market." He hung up the phone.

"Damnit!" He yelled before looking down at me. "Bella." He grabbed my face gently and shook. "Bella come on. We're okay." He sat us down and pulled me onto his lap until Jasper got there. Emmett jumped out of the passenger side and ran over to me, taking me from Edward's arms and carrying me to the car.

"Edward what the hell happened?"

"It was a setup. Laurent and James are dead. Victoria was unconscious when we left."

Jasper screeched the tires as he sped away. "What's wrong with Bella? What did they do to her?"

"I don't know man. They hit her and kicked her a couple of times but she won't say anything."

Emmett put his arms around me. "Bells?" I stared straight ahead. I just killed someone. I almost just got killed. I shivered. "I think she's in shock."

"She shot him Emmett. She shot James."

I walked like a zombie up to the penthouse. Just one foot in front of the other. Step. Step. Step. It was all I could do to focus. All I kept seeing was James's face in my head as the shot rang out.

Emmett guided me to a chair and sat me down. Edward bent down and whispered in my ear. "I'm going to start you a bath okay?"

I slowly nodded my head and he disappeared.

He was back a few minutes later and helped me to the bathroom.

"I'll take care of her guys. It's okay."

Emmett and Jasper watched us strangely was we walked down the hallway.

**The bathtub was already almost full. Bubbles were overflowing. Edward turned the water off and turned towards me.

"I put some bubbles in. You girls like that shit right?" His eyes were full of concern as he looked at me.

I shrugged my shoulders as I stared at the bubbles, past the bathtub, right back to the dock. It replayed over again in my head. I jumped with the bang of the gun.

"Do you need help?" Edward said softly, leaning in towards my face.

I looked at him with tears running quietly down my cheeks. I slowly raised my arms above my head. He reached for the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head, kissing my forehead gently. His fingers fumbled at my jeans and finally pulled them down.

"Step."

I stepped up and out of them. I kept my bra and underwear on and inched into the deep warm water.

"Just umm…yell if you need me okay?" Edward started towards the door, stealing glances back to check if I was okay. He paused as he started to open the door.

My soft crying broke into sobs as I pulled my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth in the water. I pressed my face down into my skin, enveloping myself in darkness. I heard the door close and moments later I felt him get into the bathtub, wrapping himself around me.

"Shhh…" His arms tightened around me.

He just sat with me as I cried. Eventually the sobs died down and I just laid still, clinging to him. His lips brushed against my shoulder, grazing slightly against my collarbone before placing a kiss at the base of my neck.

We stayed like that until the water cooled and all the bubbles had dissipated. I finally pulled away from him.

"I think I'm ready to get out now…" I eyed the door.

He instantly leaped out and grabbed me a towel, his boxers dripping all the way across the floor. I looked down and saw that he had discarded his jeans and t-shirt before getting in. He held up the towel for me and I stepped out, enveloping myself in its soft fabric. His hands rubbed up and down my arms, attempting to keep me warm. We walked slowly to our rooms, not knowing what to say or what to do.

"Thank you Edward…" My mind may be numb at the moment, but I was fully prepared for him to do his whiplash of emotions and turn into a jerk any second. Besides, what he'd done for me in there was beyond anything he'd ever done, the Dickward repercussions were sure to be massive to even it out. For every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I sighed and closed my bedroom door.

There was a soft knock. I opened the door slowly to find Edward, looking down at his feet.

"Edward what are you doing?"

He looked up at me, his emerald eyes shining. "Something I should have done a long time ago…" He stepped forward and a moment later he pressed his lips against mine as we descended back into my dark room, my towel falling with a loud thud to the floor.

**A/N: YAY! Big moment we've all been waiting for. Hope it was worth the wait. XOXO**


	8. DOA

"Does it still hurt?" Edward ran his fingers softly across the red inflamed burnt "V" on my inner thigh.

"It did like hell for the first couple of days. Now it's only if something rough rubs against it." I pulled the sheets up slightly so I could see his face.

He stuck his tongue out and traced the lines of the "V" before planting a soft kiss on it. He continued up to my hip, my fist twisted involuntarily while he lingered for a moment below my bellybutton. He finally made his way up the middle of my chest to my neck.

"How long did yours hurt?" I peeked over his broad shoulders to see his. I ran my fingers over the "V" shaped scar on his shoulder blade. You could only see it if you really looked. Just a slightly lighter shade of pink than his tanned skin and a little raised above it.

"Not long at all…" He nuzzled further into the crook of my neck.

"Edward this is crazy," I sighed.

He pulled his face back to look me in the eye.

"I know," he laughed. "But I just couldn't…not be with you anymore. It was too much. I tried to shake it off but I couldn't. You affect me way too much for my own good. And when I saw you there looking so…broken, that was it. I made a decision that I wasn't going to fight with myself anymore. I was giving in, completely." His eyes fluttered away for an instant. "No matter what the consequences are."

"Are we going to be in a lot of trouble?"

"Maybe." His eyes narrowed at me playfully. "But I'll protect you."

"From what I remember, I was the one who saved your ass, not the other way around."

His expression turned tender as he placed his lips on mine. "You did. You saved my life." He laughed as he brought his mouth back to mine. I pulled the covers back over our heads.

"Dude!" Emmett burst in. "Have you seen Bella? She's not in her room?"

Edward stuck his head out in a panic, keeping me under the covers.

"Um…no?" His voice squeaked.

I smiled, hidden under the covers and decided to have a little fun. I raised my lips to Edward's chest and ran my tongue down the middle and all the way down to his stomach. He shuddered and looked down at me momentarily with a "Don't go there" stare. I nodded my head, smiling devilishly as I scooted down further. Emmett continued talking idly.

"Well I'm just worried about her you know. I mean with what happened yesterday and I just feel like she's never…in…her room." He paused as Edward closed his eyes and almost collapsed on top of me. "Ed you got a girl in here?"

Edward's eyes got wide. "Why would you say that?"

"Because there's a foot with painted toe nails sticking out the end of your bed."

I held in the laughter and pulled my foot quickly under the covers.

Emmett laughed a big howl. "You do don't you? Who is it? Is Tanya back in town?"

My face turned serious. Tanya?

I shot up out of the covers. "Who the fuck is Tanya you bastard?" I slapped Edward's chest, completely forgetting Emmett was in the room.

"My eyes! Damnit I've gotta start minding my own business!" He shouted and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Is he talking about Tanya, Tanya? As in the Tanya that's in charge of the Denalis?"

Edward threw his hands up, in defensive mode. "Relax Bella! Geez, did you have to hit me so hard?" He rubbed at his chest.

I brought my face within inches of his. "Tell me. Everything. Now." I grabbed his nipple, threatening.

"You wouldn't dare…" He smiled his crooked smile.

I twisted slightly. "Oh I would."

"Ouch!" He laughed. "Fine. We had a…thing. It was only one time. It was a mistake. I was really…really drunk. That's it, that's everything."

"It better be everything." I released his skin.

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you…jealous?"

I crossed my arms and looked down. "No."

"No?" He scooted closer to me so our bodies were touching.

"No."

He put a finger under my chin and tipped my face up. "Good. Because you have no reason to be." He kissed me softly. "Stay here." He replaced his lips with his finger. "Don't bitch about it. I'll be right back."

He hopped up and pulled some sweatpants on. In spite of my momentary pissy outburst, I had to smile. It was impossible not to smile looking at him walk away. I brought my finger to my lips as I ogled over the dimples on his lower back. I fell back into a light sleep waiting for him to return.

"Wakey wakey…" Edward pressed his lips against my cheek.

"Why should I?" I mumbled.

"Because I got us the whole penthouse to ourselves for the day."

My eyes shot open. "Really? How'd you pull that one off?"

"I told Emmett that what he saw this morning would be tame compared to what he'd see if he stayed here. Alice and Jasper were willing to go somewhere for the day. So it's all ours."

"And Demetri?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Will face a painful and torturous death if he comes in here."

"Good. So what are we doing?"

"Well I'm going to make you breakfast."

My eyes narrowed at him.

"Well," he corrected. "I'm going to try…to make you breakfast."

"Sounds more like it."

He smiled and scooped me up, all wrapped in the sheets, and carried me out to the kitchen. I took a seat on the stool while he started pulling supplies out of the refrigerator.

"Eggs?"

"Scrambled."

"Bacon?"

"Crispy."

"My kind of girl."

I watched and giggled occasionally as he tried to scramble the eggs. I thought I'd make it easy on him but apparently it wasn't. He eventually handed me some charcoaled lump that was scrambled eggs and some extra crispy bacon. I ate it without complaint. A knock at the door interrupted my meal.

"I'll get it," Edward said as he sauntered over to the door. I continued to focus on my almost breakfast. The voice on the other side of the door stopped me mid bite.

"My name is Chief Swan. I'm here to investigate a shooting that took place on the 5th street dock yesterday." I heard him flip his badge open and closed. I could only imagine what was running through his mind right now. I knew he could see me, wrapped in nothing but a sheet. And he definitely saw Edward, standing there in only his sweatpants. I'd definitely be hearing about this eventually.

My dad cleared his throat.

"Please come in Chief Swan." Edward seemed nervous. I was definitely nervous, but probably not for the same reason. He was worried about going to jail, I was worried about my father killing us both and burying the bodies. He must think I'm crazy for getting involved with a suspect. And to tell the truth, in that very moment, thinking about it through my dad's eyes, I was crazier than a nine-dollar bill. There were going to be severe repercussions for my actions, and I didn't just mean with my job or my dad. My heart was in trouble. It would for sure be DOA once this whole thing was over with.

I finally turned to face them both. "Um. I'll be right back." I ran to my room to throw on some clothes. I could hear them talking down the hall.

"The survivor named you and your employer as the culprit." I shuddered. Victoria was still alive. "You specifically Edward and I assume that was the female that she mentioned too. Didn't know her name. Now, I'm reckoning, just like any other time I've been up here that you have no idea what I'm talking about."

He was tapping his foot as I entered the room again.

"We were here all day yesterday," I answered confidently. "I was feeling a little bit under the weather and Edward was here looking after me for the day."

My dad's eyes shot to me. I could see the accusations flying in them, and for the first time I felt like he was ashamed of me. It made me feel like I was just living up to his expectations. Like I was showing him that I wasn't good enough to do this job.

"And your name is?"

"Bella Cavanaugh." I waited for more daggers to come flying at me. And they did. He didn't know about my little name slip up. As far as he was concerned I was still Lindsey.

"Is that about the way it went Edward?" He turned his attention to Edward.

"Yeah. You can ask Emmett or Jasper. They'll say the same thing."

Charlie's eyes narrowed. "I'm sure they will." I knew he wouldn't investigate further, since I was involved. But he had to go through the motions. It'd be a little suspicious if he didn't. "Have a good day guys." He flipped his notebook closed and turned to leave. I didn't miss his angry eyes and how they lingered an instant longer on mine.

Edward and I were silent for the next five minutes.

"You were pretty quick with a cover up." He smiled. "Nice. I can't think that quick, Jasper's usually here when they come to question us. He's the one with the charm and the brains."

"Yeah I don't know where they came from." I shook my head.

Edward's phone started to vibrate against the countertop. I glanced at the caller I.D. It was Emmett.

"Hey Emmett," I said sarcastically.

"Bella. What a lovely surprise. I thought you might still be IN BED."

"No, we've moved to the kitchen."

"Ew. Remind me to Lysol that shit."

I laughed. "What's up, what are you doing?"

"I'm at Rose's. Just stopped to check in with Aro, which is why I'm calling. He wants to see you and Edward." My breath caught in my throat. Does he already know about last night? I gulped hard, thinking over who would have told him. Emmett was the only one who knew and I can't imagine he'd tell him. Edward's eyes widened as he took in the sudden change of my expression. He reached out his hand and took the phone from me.

"Emmett what's going on?....Right….Okay. Now?...Okay… Yeah… Bye." He hung up the phone. "Don't worry. It's probably just about what happened yesterday….well the whole shooting thing. I hope." He laughed nervously as he headed down the hallway. He was back an instant later with a shirt halfway over his head. "You ready?"

He held my hand the entire drive there, letting go only when we had to. We thought it'd be best, just in case Aro wasn't aware of our…sudden relationship.

Edward knocked on Aro's office door as he smiled tentatively my way.

"Come in."

He opened the door for me and followed me inside.

"Oh my goodness. Edward. Bella. I'm so glad you are alright. I was absolutely terrified when I heard about the incident yesterday. Please take a seat." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk and we both sat down and crossed our legs simultaneously over our knees. I let out a quiet sigh of relief as Aro continued on about the "incident" as he called it.

"I called Tanya yesterday immediately after it happened. She claims that the three were acting on their own accord and were not acting on behalf of the family. She extended her deepest sympathies to whatever trouble they may have caused." He tapped his fingers on his desk. "Regardless, we will not be dealing with the Denalis if we can help it. We're going to try and keep it local and see how well we can do for the time being. I don't want to risk any of you, you are far too valuable to me." He smiled. "But, that's all behind us. I'd like to send you two to a nice dinner tonight. To make up for what happened yesterday."

"That's not necessary Aro," Edward said.

"No, no I insist. Please. I'll make reservations for eight o'clock at Dominic's place."

"Thank you. That's very nice of you." I smiled.

"Well, that's all I wanted. You two go out and enjoy the beautiful day."

Edward and I both shook Aro's hand and left the warehouse. Edward's phone was instantly at his ear.

"What are you doing?" I questioned.

"You'll see…" he smiled. "Alice? Can you pick up Bella in about a half hour and take her shopping for a new dress. Aro is making us go to a nice dinner tonight and I want her to have something nice."

"Edward that's not necessary. I can just wear what I have." I said once he hung up.

"Don't be ridiculous. I insist," he said mocking Aro's tone.

For the rest of the day I was at Alice's mercy trying on this and that, and this dress and that dress, and those shoes or these shoes. I was pretty much exhausted.

"Now. I've been given strict instructions to return you to the penthouse all ready to go. So we'll stop by Rose and my place to get you ready for your big date," Alice teased.

"It's not a date," I protested just like a teenager to her mother. Although my heart did flutter a bit when she said that. Because as much as I wanted to deny it, it was a date. It was a real, live date with Edward. And I was more than excited.

Alice put me in the slinky black dress that we'd bought earlier, and she'd done my hair in hot rollers, and she'd done my makeup all-fancy. I was all ready to go, just as she was instructed, by the time she dropped me back off at the penthouse at 7:30.

I'd forgotten my key at Alice's so I knocked. Once. Twice. Three times. No answer. I was starting to get anxious.

"Edward?"

The lock on the door clicked and the door swung open slowly into darkness.

"Edward?" I called again, stepping inside. I felt someone step up behind me and wrap their arms around my shoulders. I gasped, startled at first. But the arms were familiar and I knew them the instant his skin touched mine. The hands in front of me carried a single rose in one and a lit candle in the other.

"I…thought we were going out?" I said as Edward kissed my neck.

"I gave the reservation to Emmett and Rosalie. I owed him. I think we scarred him for life earlier today."

"Well," I teased, "I guess he should learn to knock." I spun around to face him.

"Stay here a minute." He disappeared into the darkness, illuminated only by the faint glow of the candle. I watched as he slid out onto the balcony and one by one lit more candles, each growing into an orb of light against the night sky. I slowly began to distinguish a table outside that was set for two. There were silver plate covers adorning the table.

Edward came back into the room and took me by the hand, leading me outside.

He pulled the chair out for me before lifting up the plate covers. Steam enveloped me, along with a delicious smell of spices and broth.

"So where'd you order this from?" I asked, remembering his breakfast fiasco this morning.

"Actually. I watched Emeril all fucking day just to get it right." He smiled as he took his seat. I could finally see him now. He wore a dress shirt and a nice jacket. His hair was slicked back a little, with a few stray strands falling in front of his face. He looked sexy as hell. He was lucky I didn't jump him from across the table.

"What?" He took a bite of the chicken.

"Nothing," I said, maintaining eye contact. "You look really nice tonight."

"Thank you." His face flushed red a little. "You look…more than nice."

I stood up and strolled over to him to sit on his lap and sling my arms around his neck.

"I think that the food might have to wait…" I brought my face close to his.

"Wait you at least have to try it." He picked up a piece of chicken with his fork and placed it in my mouth. "Is it…BAM?" He mimicked Emeril's signature line.

"Very bam. Count to thirty, then come find me. My room tonight." I kissed him gently and skipped off to my room.

Thirty seconds later the door to my room opened a crack.

"Marco?" Edward's voice called.

"Polo…" I whispered. He stepped inside.

I took a step to stand behind him and tied the piece of fabric around his eyes.

"What is this?" He asked, running his fingers over the blindfold.

I brought my lips close to his ear. "My dress."

"BAM!"

**A/N: For those of you not savvy in the police dictionary..D.O.A. means Dead on Arrival. **


	9. Blacklisted

**A/N: Hey guys...Sooooo sorry this update has taken so long. I've been uber busy with work and am completely exhausted by the time I can sit down and write. So without any more delay here's the next chapter. Enjoy : )**

The creak of the door woke me the next morning. I slowly opened my eyes and reached my hand across the bed to find Edward. He wasn't there.

"I'm over here love."

The voice came from the foot of the bed. I sat up, holding the covers to my chest.

Edward was sitting on the floor at the end of the bed.

"What the hell are you doing?" I questioned.

"Well. I didn't want perfectly good food to go to waste. So I reheated everything for brunch."

I crawled down the bed and finally saw the makeshift picnic he had set up on the floor.

"This is so good Edward," I said placing a piece of food in my mouth slowly.

"Thank you. Now that I've taken a crash course in cooking you won't have to cook all the time now."

"Sounds amazing."

"So I think Aro wants us to do some scouting today. Jasper left a note on the counter. We need to check out some of the people we've worked with in the past to see if we can keep a solid business without the Denalis." He lay down on his side and rested his head on his hand. "So we should probably leave in about an hour so we can fit them all in today."

I slowly crawled over to him and pushed him flat on his back before positioning myself on top of him.

"And how long do you need to get ready?"

He gulped hard. "Like…ten minutes." I brought my lips down to his throat. "But you should probably shower. You have some serious bed head going on."

"Actually its sex hair. And I only need a half hour at the most. Which leaves us a full thirty minutes to do whatever we want." I pulled the sheet away from my body.

"Woman you're going to kill me." Edward smiled against my lips as I kissed him.

The door opened slowly and Jasper walked in. He didn't scream like Emmett did. He just stood still, absolutely frozen with his mouth gaping open.

"Sorry," he whispered. He turned his back to us as I pulled the sheets back around me. "Edward I need to talk to you." His voice was not the friendly voice I was used to. Edward's eyes connected with mine.

"Um. I'll just go take that shower." I got up and high-tailed it to the bathroom. I took my time in the shower. It felt like Jasper was going to talk business with Edward. When I was done I walked tentatively back down the hallway. I paused at Edward's door.

"Edward this is not a good idea." Jasper's voice was a barely above a whisper, but an angry whisper.

"I know Jazz. I know. But it's done now. Just get off my back about it."

"Do you have any idea what this means? How this could ruin everything? Never mix work with play Edward. It always ends up bad. Especially in this case. You need to end it with her now."

I shuddered back, a little hurt. I didn't realize Jasper felt so strongly.

"It's too late Jazz."

A loud thud against the wall made me jump. I quickly realized it was Edward's body being pushed against it. I'd never seen Jasper act so cold and forceful.

"Cut the shit Edward! This is serious."

"I…." Edward stuttered. "I think I'm starting to fall for her."

I smiled slightly, despite the current situation.

Jasper was silent. "Tough. End this." The doorknob started to turn. I panicked and leaped into my room an instant before the door opened. Jasper stormed out and headed towards his room.

I closed my door and started getting dressed. There was a soft knock on my door. Crap. Was Jasper here to bitch me out now?

"Bella it's me," Edward's voice called softly.

"Oh." I let out a sigh of relief. "Come in." I sat at my vanity and started brushing my sopping wet hair.

"Hey," he said as he opened the door.

"Hey." I eyed him in the mirror. "I'm sorry."

His face softened. "What do you have to be sorry for?" He knelt down beside me and cupped my face with his hands.

"Jasper's mad at you. Because of me."

"You heard that?" His face flushed with panic and embarrassment.

"Just the beginning," I covered. I didn't even want to think about the last thing Edward had said. It terrified and excited me all at once and I had no idea how to deal with it.

"Oh," he said, looking slightly relieved. "He'll be okay. He's just worried about it affecting the job."

"I just don't want to cause trouble between you guys Edward. I know he's important to you."

"If I'm as important to them as they are to me, then they'll get over this."

"They?" My shoulders fell. "Emmett's mad too?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I'm going to go shower." Edward got up and left the room.

I stared back at myself in the mirror. This was getting more complicated by the second, but a part of me was screaming at me that he was worth it. I had no idea how this was going to work. I was supposed to be arresting him in the near future. What was I going to do? Wake up one morning, give him a kiss and say "Honey you're now under arrest. You have the right to remain silent?" I had to come up with some kind of solution before we reached that point. Maybe we could cut a deal with him. Maybe me and him could just….run. Run away from it all. That would kill my father, but I would do it. Because that part of me that was screaming to fight for Edward was getting louder with each moment that passed.

My eyes kept flitting towards the door, wishing he'd just come back in here so my brain could just stop posing all these impossible questions. I turned up my music loud and tried to blow dry my hair without all the thoughts running through my head.

Edward returned fifteen minutes later, fully dressed and ready to go.

"It isn't fair," I yelled over the sound of the blow drier.

"What?"

I turned it off. "That you can be so beautiful in so little time. It takes me so much longer."

"You always look beautiful." He planted a kiss on my neck.

I pulled a shirt and a pair of jeans on and I was ready to go. "Where are we heading first?"

"To a group called the McConnell's. We did some business with them awhile back."

"Okay great let's go."

The crisp, cool air hit my bare arms as we left the building. I shivered.

"Why is it so cold outside?"

"Here." Edward took off his jacket and slung it over my shoulders.

"Thanks."

We walked down the street, not holding hands, but always touching whether it was a slight brush hand to hand as we walked or our shoulders touching as we waited at a light or occasionally when Edward slipped and put his arm around me.

"Here." Edward nodded across the street to a bar named Patrick's Irish Pub. We crossed the street and he held the door open for me.

A guy that looked about twenty was wiping down the tables and pulling the chairs down. He looked up when we walked in.

"Edward?"

"Hey Danny, how's it goin man?" Edward held out his hand and high fived the boy.

"Who is this?" Danny smiled and looked over at me.

"This is my Bella." Danny's eyes widened. "Well. Not my Bella. Just Bella." Edward quickly corrected himself. I, for one, had no problem with being his Bella.

I reached my hand out and shook Danny's. "Nice to meet you."

"You too. You one of Aro's ladies?"

"She works with us Danny."

"Damn. She's hot and she can kick some ass. That's fucking awesome!"

"Watch yourself. She's kicked my ass several times." Edward winked at me. "Is your uncle here?"

"Yeah he's in the back." He turned his eyes to me. "You can stay out here with me if you want?"

"That's okay. I should probably go with Edward. You know. Official business."

He shrugged and went back to cleaning his tables.

We walked through the bar and through the doors marked "Employee's only." There was a red haired man standing next to a few wooden crates looking through some paperwork.

"Look who it is?" He said smiling as he acknowledged our presence.

"Patrick. How are you doing?" Edward asked.

"Not too shabby. How about yourself?"

"Eh. We've been better. We were hoping you could change that."

"What can I do for you my man?"

"I'm sure you've heard about our little incident with the Denalis a couple of days ago."

"Yeah I did. That's a messed up deal. I'm glad you're okay. Was this the little lady who saved your ass?"

Patrick turned to me.

Edward laughed and nudged me. "That it is. This is Bella. Bella this is Patrick. A friend of the family."

"Pleasure to meet you Patrick."

"You too lass."

"Anyway Patrick, we need some help." Edward's eyes turned serious. "The Denalis were our main supplier, and seeing as we aren't really sure if we can trust them, we're looking to go local. Can you help us out?"

Patrick shook his head. "Sorry Edward. No can do. And to tell you the truth I doubt you'll find anyone within a couple hundred miles that will. The Denalis probably already got to them. You've been blacklisted."

"Damn it," Edward whispered. "I understand. Thanks anyway."

Edward pulled me by the arm and dragged me out of the bar.

"What does that mean Edward? What's blacklisted?" I'd never heard the term before, not even back at the office.

"The Denalis have basically gotten to everyone we've ever worked with or would work with and told them not to work with us. Probably threatened them good too. It'll force us to work with them again. They don't want to lose our business."

"Oh. That's bad then."

"Very. Aro is not going to be happy."

We tried every other name on our list and our suspicions were confirmed. No one would work with us. We were shut out from everything.

My head was swirling as we walked back into the penthouse. Jasper's eyes narrowed at us. I grabbed Edward's hand and placed a kiss on his cheek. Take that asshole Jasper. "I'm going to go for a run, will you be okay for awhile?"

Edward laughed. "Yes. I think I can manage." I smiled at Jasper as I went to my room to change. "Hey Jazz."

"Bella," he said flatly, never taking his eyes off Edward. I could still hear their conversation from my room.

"So we're basically fucked in the business department. We're going to have to go back to the Denalis. There's no one else."

"They definitely fucked us. Bent us over the table and ass raped us," Jasper said. At least maybe now he'd have other things to worry about than Edward and me.

I tied my shoes, grabbed my IPod and headed out the door. It was still chilly outside, but that was my perfect running weather. I ran for a good half hour and decided I should head back when it started to get dark. I wasn't in the best area. As I ran back, I heard a sound over my shoulder. I turned my head and peeked back. No one there. I must be hearing things. I heard the sound. Again. I turned my head and looked. Again. Still no one there. Just as I turned back to face forward a hand flew out in front of me and pulled me into the alley.

"Damn it Charlie you scared me!" He didn't say anything."What the hell are you doing, you could blow everything!" I took my IPod off and looked around. I was far enough away from the penthouse that they couldn't see me, but it was risky contacting me at all.

"What the hell am I doing? What the hell are you doing?!" He brought his face close to mine. I could see and feel the anger inside him.

"Dad I…"

"No Bella. What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing? He's a fucking suspect and you're sleeping with him."

"It isn't like that." Despite my best efforts, tears started to form in the corner of my eyes.

"What is it like Bella? Please tell me because I'd love to know what it is that is going to derail this whole investigation. Was it a one-night stand? A mistake? Good. Don't let it happen again." He looked around. "God you're such a disappointment." He walked away.

I felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs. My back slid down the side of the building until I was sitting against it. I was a disappointment. I disappointed him. I was disappointing Jake. What the hell was I doing? I put my head in my hands and let the tears flow freely.

I stood up ten minutes later and wiped them away. Pull it together.

I strolled up to the penthouse and opened the door. No one was in the living room. I walked towards my room. I heard it then.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Emmett was screaming at someone behind Edward's door.

"Why is it any of your God-damn business? Either of you? It's between me and her and no one else!" Edward yelled.

"When this goes bad, just know you're the one who fucked it up." The door swung open. Emmett and Jasper started out of the room. I stood my ground. They paused and stared at me.

"Fuck off…" I said as I walked into Edward's room and closed the door in their face. "What the hell is going on with them Edward?"

"Nothing." He looked down.

"That didn't sound like nothing."

"It's nothing just drop it!" He yelled.

I turned quickly and stomped out of the room, straight down to the bathroom. I locked the door, even though I knew it wouldn't do any good if he really wanted to get in here, and grabbed a towel, pushing it against my mouth. Then I screamed. Screamed at the top of my lungs, as loud as I could, letting out all my frustrations from today. The deal, my Dad, Emmett, Jasper…and Edward.

I got in the shower again to wash all the sweat and tears away. But new tears just came again. I had no idea what to do. Everything was getting so messed up.

_._

I spun around. Edward's finger was tapping on the shower door. He leaned his forehead against it. "I'm sorry," he said.

I turned back and continued showering.

"I'm sorry," he said again, slightly louder.

I turned slowly under the water and let it wash the soap off my body. A cold whoosh of air surged through the shower for an instant and then he was there.

"I said I'm sorry." He spit out some water that had gone into his mouth. "Bella!" He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. "Will you just…say something?"

"What do you want me to say?" I spun around. "We've been blacklisted. Everyone thinks we're a mistake. Jasper…Emmett…" My dad, I wanted to say.

"I don't." His eyes were serious and soft at the same time as his voice rang clear. He held my face in his hands. "I don't Bella. This isn't a joke to me. We aren't…." His voice faded away. In that instant, all my fears and the questions in my head faded too. This was serious. And it was important. It was important enough that we could find a way to make it work, anyway we could. He pressed his lips to mine again as the steam rose around us. "If you're a mistake, it's the best one I've ever made."

**Reviews are better than Edward tapping on my shower door. : )**


	10. Intervention

Pure hell. The next week was pure, scathing, burning, gut wrenching hell. The house was completely silent. It was like there was an invisible line down the middle of the living room, separating us from them, the good guys versus the bad guys. Edward and I sat in the living room watching television every now and then. Jasper and Emmett kept to themselves, barely managing a greeting when they walked in the door. Even Alice was distant. Not as PMS-y as Emmett and Jasper were being but she definitely wasn't her normal bubbly self. I was sure she was just following Jasper's lead. I don't think she had a problem with Edward and me. She sat in the chair next to Edward and me, staring blankly at the television. With a slight smile she stood up and sauntered down the hallway to Jasper's room.

"I guess we're the outcasts now huh?" I peeked down at Edward, who had his head lying lazily in my lap.

"I'm sorry...about them. You shouldn't have to deal with that," he whispered.

"Neither should you. If they have a problem then that's their problem, not ours."

"I know it just....sucks." He closed his eyes and started drifting off to sleep. I ran my fingers slowly over his cheeks and down his jaw line to rest on his chin. I bent down and gently placed a kiss on his lips before playing absentmindedly with his hair.

Emmett walked into the kitchen and placed his empty cereal bowl in the sink. He was eating in his bedroom now.

"Hi Emmett." I tried to smile his way, hoping his killer dimples would pop out in a smile.

"Bella," he said unenthusiastically, turning back and heading to his room.

An audible sigh escaped my lips. This is getting ridiculous. My fingers tapped loudly on the edge of the couch as I contemplated. Something had to be done. Something…drastic.

Edward stirred below me. I barely noticed him looking at me until he laughed; I was too deep in thought plotting out my plan of attack. Jasper needed reason and perceptive, Emmett needed….food.

"Bella you look absolutely absurd, what are you thinking about?" Edward gently pinched my chin and forced my eyes down.

"Oh. Nothing."

"Yeah right." He laughed as he got up off the couch. "I'm going to go take a shower." He walked slowly down to the bathroom scratching his head. This was it.

"Take your time babe. Ten, twenty minutes even." I sprinted towards the bathroom just as he was taking his shirt off. "Actually why don't you just take a bath."

"That's girly shit." He eyed the bathtub suspiciously.

"Just give it a try…" I said slowly as I started the bathwater. He sat on the edge of the tub and put his feet in. I reached for the bubble bath.

"No, no, no. None of that shit. I have to maintain some of my pride."

"Okay fine," I laughed. "Just relax."

He was still staring at the water when I left the room. It'd take him at least ten minutes to decide to actually get in, so that gave me some bonus time.

I couldn't hold in the smile as I ran to the kitchen. I was just too brilliant. I whipped up the quickest but tastiest looking sandwich I could manage and proceeded to slice it up into little pieces. With plate in hand, I tiptoed down the hallway, past Jasper's door and down to Emmett's. I started placing the pieces of sandwich at his door and down the hallway, Hansel and Gretel style all the way to Edward's door and just inside. I placed the rest of the sandwich on the desk inside Edward's room in full view from the door. By my estimate I should have about five minutes before Edward emerges from the bathroom, but I decided to check just in case.

I cracked the door open slowly and peeked my head in. I had to cover my mouth to hold in my laughter. He sat in the tub, facing sideways, playing with toy plastic ships. Actually playing.

I closed the door silently. "So much for maintaining his pride," I whispered to myself. He'll be at least fifteen more minutes. I watched TV. for ten minutes before I walked back down Emmett and Jasper's hallway. I pressed my ear against Emmett's door. Music was faintly playing in the background. Excellent. I knocked loudly and ran back into the living to hide behind the couch.

I heard the door creak open.

"What the fuck?" Emmett said. I could just see the confused look on his face. I started counting to myself. In 5…4…3…2… There he was. Walking slowly down the hallway, bending over every now and then to pick up another piece of sandwich and stuff it into his mouth. His movements became quicker and quicker as he crossed the living room and disappeared down our hallway. I crept to the corner and snuck a look around. Emmett was stopped in front of Edward's slightly cracked door licking his fingers. Then I knew he saw it. His eyes fixated on the sandwich inside of Edward's room. "Ed?" He called softly. His head swayed quickly from side to side to make sure no one was looking before he ran into Edward's room. Almost on cue Edward stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and walked into his room. I bolted from my hiding place, equipped with a cord I'd found in the junk drawer. My hand flew out and slammed the door shut just as Edward saw Emmett snacking on the sandwich. I wound the cord round and round the door handle quicker than I ever imagined I could and then once again around my door handle directly across, pulling it taut. One of them tried pulling Edward's door, but it wouldn't budge.

"What the hell is this Bella?" Edward pounded on his door.

"You guys won't talk? I'll make you. Have fun." I went back out in the living room and turned the TV. up to drown out the yelling and the pounding.

Jasper came bursting out of his room.

"What the hell is that?"

"What is what?"

"That noise."

"What noise?"

"That pounding." He started down the hallway.

"Jasper. You don't hear anything," I said persuasively. "Just go back to your room and relax."

He looked at Edward's door and back down to his. Back and forth. Back and forth. He didn't say another word as he sauntered back to his room and closed the door.

I waited. And waited. I waited through a whole show of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. At least the pounding had stopped before the first Daily Double. Hopefully the silence meant they were talking.

I heard a piece of paper slip under the door of Edward's room. _We Surrender_. Good boys.

"If you value your testicles you better not be lying to me."

"We value our testicles." They both said simultaneously.

I grabbed a pair of scissors and snapped the cord. Edward's door flew open as they both fell to the ground laughing. This was a good sign. I walked in and closed the door.

"Are we playing nice now children?"

"Yes ma'am," Emmett smiled widely.

"There's the dimples I've missed. Good. Now we just have to work on Jazz."

"Jazz will not be influenced by food like I am. No way. No. No. No." He crossed his arm and shook his head from side to side in a matter of fact kind of way.

Just then I heard the voice of an angel, of our savior in all of this, in the hallway singing the latest Britney tune.

I peeked my head out. Alice was starting down Jasper's hallway bobbing her head from side to side. I sprinted across the living, over the back of the couch and jumped across the chair, to grab her arm. "Alice I need you. For. For something. Come here." I dragged her to the other side and into Edward's room.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked.

"We're staging an intervention on Jasper. We need your help. He listens to you."

"Oh I don't know Bella."

"Alice. This house has made a cemetery look like a fun place to be lately. Aren't you a little sick of it?"

"It's driving me insane," she finally surrendered. "What do we do?"

"Jasper is a logical person. We just need to be reasonable."

"And maybe use force." Emmett added.

"How'd she get to you Emmett?"

"Food."

"Oh. Okay Bella what do you want me to do?"

We sat at the bar ten minutes later waiting for Alice and Jasper.

"It's a surprise Jasper. I can't tell you." Alice's voice echoed down the hallway.

He stopped when he reached the kitchen. "What is this?"

"Jasper this is an intervention. Would you like to take a seat?" I gestured to the empty chair. "We'd just like to have a little talk. We all have some things we would like to say to you."

He sat down in the chair and folded his hands in front of him, just like he had when we'd first met.

"Jazz we're worried," Emmett said.

"Jazz we love you," Edward added.

"We're not here to accuse or criticize, just to listen." I nodded to Alice.

"Right," Alice said. "My turn."

Jasper cleared his throat and turned to Alice, gesturing grandly and boredly for her to continue.

"Jasper. Honey. We both have known Edward for awhile, and honestly he was depressing with all his broody "I don't give a fuck" attitude."

Edward's eyes narrowed at her.

"Sorry Edward. It's true. You make Marilyn Manson look like rainbows and unicorns. Anyway. Jazz. Look at Edward. He's smiling, he's laughing, he's in love. Don't you get it." I smiled a little as she talked. "I've never seen him like this before. It's like Bella has turned his whole world around for the better. Do you really want him to go back to being a Debbie Downer? I don't think so. They're in love. It's complicated. Get over it. Move on. Mmkay? Let's go get ice cream." She grabbed his hand and they left the house, Jasper looking more puzzled than I've ever seen him.

"Well I think that went well," Emmett said.

"Yep. Okay I'm going to go for a run. I'll see you guys in a bit."

My run was very uneventful today. No creepy noises, no run ins with my psycho cop father. When I returned I was pleasantly surprised. Alice sure didn't look happy, but all three boys were sitting on the couch playing Xbox together. Behaving just how boys were supposed to behave.

"Come on Alice. I'll let you give me a makeover." I smiled in her direction. She perked up a little bit. I slung my arm around her shoulders as we walked back to my room. I was fully willing to sacrifice my face and scalp to Alice to give the boys some time alone. Because the laughter and jokes that filled the penthouse was like sweet music to my ears. It was like we were alive again. We were us again.


	11. Crash Course

I woke the next morning with a hell of a headache snuggled up next to Alice in my bed. My fingers flew up to my hair and began pulling bobby pins out, obviously the source of my discomfort.

"Alice…" I poked at her. "Alice wake up."

"No," she whispered and turned away.

"Well fine. I'm getting up." I crawled out of bed and pulled the remaining bobby pins from my hair.

The living room was silent, a much different atmosphere than last night's fun and revelry. I shuffled to the kitchen and made myself a bagel. I was just about to go back to my room when I heard whispering down the hall towards Jasper's room.

"Jazz? Emmett? Are you here?" I started down the hallway.

"…this is serious. Aro wants to see everyone…" Jasper whispered.

I walked into the doorway. All three of them were there, whispering frantically between themselves.

"What's going on?" I took a cautious bite out of my bagel.

They all jumped at my presence.

"Good morning sweetheart." Edward kissed my forehead.

"Good morning…" I glanced at all of their faces. They were trying to cover. "What does Aro want?"

"Oh it's nothing Bells. Just a little meeting. You probably don't even need to go."

"No I'll go." I didn't want to be left out of anything. They could reveal some important information. It's been a long time since Aro has contacted us for business matters since the whole blacklisting incident.

"Bella you really don't need-" Edward started.

"Edward," I said sternly. "I'm going. End of discussion." Whispers, avoidance, and distraction. They were definitely hiding something about this meeting with Aro and there was no way in hell I was giving in to that. "When are we going?"

"Half hour. Meet in the lobby." Jasper ran out of the room.

I shrugged it off, trying to downplay my suspicions, and walked back to my room to get dressed.

"Alice we'll be back in a few…" I said as I pulled my shirt on. The only answer I got was her light snoring. For all I know, she'll probably still be asleep when we get back.

"Let's go I'm ready," I said as I exited the elevator. Jasper was already waiting out front with the car.

Not a word was spoken on the drive to the warehouse. There was too much tension in the atmosphere. What the hell was going on?

Jasper pulled in behind the warehouse and we all got out of the car. I pulled on Edward's arm, holding him behind.

"Edward is everything okay?"

He faked a smile. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I. Don't know. You guys are acting weird."

"We'll we're kinda weird," he joked. He kissed my neck before we walked inside.

"Aro's in his office guys." Demetri smiled at us and gestured up the stairs. He still looked at me funny and I didn't like it. And Edward definitely didn't like it. I swear I heard him actually growl at Demetri as we walked past. I was half surprised he didn't put his hand on the small of my back and lead me up the stairs just to show off. But that would be too much, especially considering Aro didn't know about us. My breath caught in my throat. Was that it? Was that why we were here? Demetri obviously knew there was something going on between Edward and I. Was he so set on being an asshole that he told Aro? I was suddenly a lot less eager to be at this meeting.

Jasper knocked on Aro's door.

"Come in please." His voice was a lot less welcoming than usual. I gulped hard. It took my best efforts to push all the fear and questioning out of my expression before that door opened, but somehow I did it. I didn't want Aro to have any reason to doubt me.

"Sit down everyone. I'm afraid this meeting isn't going to end on a happy note."

I stole a quick glance at Edward as I sat. Relax Bella, his eyes told me. We're fine.

"Bad news boys." He looked towards me. "And girl." The side of his mouth perked up in a slight smirk. "It looks like those Denali bitches got to every last one of our business partners, including ones that were under the table and only known about by the family. Which means we've got a rat or a traitor in our group. Someone's feeding information to the Denalis directly or via the feds." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Now I've brought you in here because I trust you guys. I've got my P.I.'s doing some investigating on some of the periphery members to see who needs to be…taken care of."

My breath caught in my throat and I saw Edward look my way, confused by my reaction. The rat to the Denalis definitely wasn't me, but I really didn't need them to start looking into my background. It could blow everything with the operation. I forced myself to breathe slowly. Relax. In and out. In and out. They aren't after you yet. I just need to be more careful. More careful in everything I do. How I conduct myself, how I act in private, everything. I stole a glance at Edward from the corner of my eye. Maybe I need to change how I act with Edward. I'm too at ease with him and that's dangerous. Way too dangerous.

"But," Aro continued. "That doesn't really concern you guys. I just wanted to keep you in the know and ask you to keep an eye out for anything suspicious." He smiled slightly. "The reason I called you is to talk to you about the…problem with the Denalis. We are in a bind guys. We're going to have to deal with them again. I've talked with Tanya, who is still denying any involvement with the incident regarding Bella and Edward. She wants to send us a peace offering. They're hosting some elaborate gala down in Miami this weekend and they've invited us to come, all expenses paid on them. I'm sending you four. I'm not willing to risk sending just a couple of our team. I want all my best people down there in case the deal goes bad. On Saturday evening you'll be having a dinner meeting with Tanya and her sisters to discuss our future business relationship."

He made eye contact with each of us briefly.

"Any questions?" He raised an eyebrow. "Good. You leave tomorrow morning. That's all."

We all got up from our seats and left his office. None of us spoke until we got in the car.

"This is risky…" Jasper said as he started the engine.

"This is awesome!" Emmett yelled. "Miami baby!"

Edward smiled and put his arm around my shoulder as we snuggled into the backseat.

"So Edward, we'll be visiting Tanya…" I said. I didn't forget Emmett's comment the other morning and I definitely wasn't happy about us visiting her.

Emmett laughed in the front seat. Edward kicked the seat, cutting off Emmett's howls. Jasper smirked as he pulled into the penthouse driveway.

"Is she pretty Emmett?" I asked as I made him a sandwich. Edward and Jasper were going over details for the weekend in Jasper's room.

"Who?"

"Tanya."

"Bella don't be ridiculous. You're a ten doll."

"And what's she…a twenty?"

"I won't lie, she's a babe, but you have nothing to worry about. I know I was a dick when you two first got together, and trust me I had my reasons, but I see what you've done to him. He's my best bud Bells, you make him the happiest I've ever seen him. And to me that's all that matters, even if it does pose some…problems. You're like the crème brule to Tanya's Jello pudding pack."

"Thanks Dimples."

"No problem." He got up and gave me a kiss on the cheek before he started down the hallway.

"Hey Emmett. Can you let them know I'm going for a run, I'll be back soon…"

"Do you want company? I could use a run."

"Ummm…sure." I'd need to find a way to break away from him at some point, I needed to let Carlisle know that I was going to be out of town for the weekend. They'd probably have a bitch fit if I suddenly disappeared from the state with no explanation.

"Great. Let me just grab my kicks." He disappeared down the hallway.

I seized the opportunity and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I searched through my contacts until I found the one I was looking for, Uncle Elmer, and sent him a text.

_Weather's a bit cloudy today. Might need to pick up an umbrella at the store._

That was code for meet me at the store.

"Ready to go?" Emmett jumped into the kitchen.

"Yep. Let's go." I smiled and started out the door.

"So how long have you been with the family?" I asked once we'd gotten warmed up.

"A little less than a year. Jazz had already been here for six months when I started."

"How'd you get into it?"

"Well I was a bouncer at a local bar for a while and it just wasn't paying the bills. A buddy of mine knew a guy who was the cousin of one of the associates in the family. Said they were looking for some muscles, so he hooked me up. And I love it." He smirked. "How about you?"

"Um. Following in my dad's footsteps." It wasn't a lie…technically.

"Nice. Is he still around?"

"No. He died a few years ago."

"Sorry Bells. What about your mom?"

"Never knew her. She left me and my dad when I was little." The lies were getting easier and easier.

"Damn. Your life kind of sucks."

I laughed. "It kinda did till I came here."

"I know. We're awesome. You can say it. Are you ready to head back, it looks like it's going to rain?"

"Um. You go ahead. I think I'm going to go a little bit longer and maybe stop by the store to pick some things for this weekend."

"Make sure to get the ones that heat on contact. He likes those." He winked at me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Condoms."

"Ew. Emmett."

"Just looking out for my boy. See ya in a few."

I laughed and rounded the corner, leaving Emmett continuing down the main road back to the penthouse.

Once in the grocery store I scanned the toiletries aisle, picking up travel sized everything, then headed to the umbrella section. Carlisle stood, perusing through the selection.

"They're sending us to Miami. To the Denalis," I whispered as I picked up an umbrella, not making eye contact with him.

"I talked to your father," Carlisle said in a condescending tone. Newflash: he knows about me and Edward. "Do you realize how this jeopardizes the case, not mention your integrity as an agent?" He picked up a newspaper.

"I'm still doing my job Carlilse."

"And what are you going to say in court when the defense asks about your relationship with Edward? You were messing around with him while you supposed to be collecting evidence against him. Not very credible or becoming." I suddenly began to realize all the implications of being involved with Edward. I was endangering the investigation, my job, and my life if Aro ever found out. Jake deserved more than that, but I didn't know if I was strong enough to end it. In fact I knew I wasn't. I was in way too deep over my head.

"It's too late Carlisle. I'm falling in love with him. And as far as work goes, after this job, I quit." I picked up an umbrella and walked to the checkout.

I was just about to walk into the penthouse when someone grabbed my arm.

"Who is he?" Edward said.

"Who's who?"

"That guy you were talking to at the grocery store. And don't say it was innocent, I could smell the tension from outside."

"What were you doing…spying on me?" I pulled my arm out of his grasp.

"No. Emmett said you were picking some things up at the store, so I went to help you and get some things for me."

"He was an old acquantaince. We didn't part on great terms. That's it."

"Is it?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Don't you trust me?"

"I thought I did." He walked inside and waited in the elevator for me. Most uncomfortable elevator ride ever didn't even begin to describe it. For once I was thankful for the terrible elevator music.

"Hey guys!" Emmett smiled when we came in the apartment. His face fell when he took in our expression. "What's wrong?"

Edward and I both stomped to our rooms and slammed the doors. There was a soft knock on my door a half hour later.

"Bella? It's Jasper."

I walked over to the door and let him in. I didn't have anything against him, he was welcome.

"Are you okay?" He said as I lay back down on my bed.

"No. Edward's an ass."

"Yeah I know, I talked to him. But you know he was just jealous don't you? Jealousy can turn even the most enjoyable person into an ass." He rubbed my shoulder. "You know he's head over heels for you right?"

"Sure," I said sarcastically.

"Don't be too hard on him, this whole relationship thing is new for him. He just needs time to adjust."

I cringed. I wonder if five to ten in a state prison would be enough time to adjust.

"Well I'll let you get to bed. Our plane leaves at eleven tomorrow morning so we need to leave here about 8:30."

"Okay." I turned to face him as he left. "Hey Jazz, thanks."

"No problem. Keep your chin up buttercup." He smirked and left the room.

I was just starting to drift to sleep when there was another tap on the door.

"Go away Edward!" I needed some time away from him. He pissed me off beyond belief tonight.

"It's Alice!" She squealed. She was too amped up for how late it was.

"Oh. Come in." I propped myself up on my elbows. Alice ran in and jumped on my bed. She started talking faster than the Energizer Bunny on caffeine.

"Okay so I know that we haven't known each other that long, but I feel like I have and I know that I've known Rosalie longer but she's been a little distant lately and I just don't feel like me and her have the same kind of friendship that you and I have and well I was wondering…would you be my maid of honor?" She held up her left hand which was now adorned with a huge diamond.

"Oh. My. God!" I grabbed her hand and we jumped up and down, shrieking with excitement. "When did this happen? I just talked to Jasper a few hours ago."

"About a half hour ago. When I walked into his room there was a teddy bear on the bed holding the ring box and rose petals spread all over the comforter. He said that he didn't want to go another day without being my husband."

"Aw. Alice that's great. Congratulations!"

"So what do you say? Will you be my maid of honor?"

I had to do everything in my power to keep the smile on my face, because inside I wanted to break down in tears. I knew that there was no way this wedding would happen, not with Jasper in jail. And it broke my heart that it would break Alice's heart.

"Of course!" I said, my voice breaking a little bit.

"Bella are you okay?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "I'm just really happy for you." She wiped a tear away from my cheek.

"Thanks!" She wrapped me up in a huge hug. "Love you Bells!"

"I love you too Alice." I clung to her like I was the happiest person in the world, but inside I was a disaster. I was tearing her world apart just by being here, and there was no way I could stop it.

"Alright I'll let you get to sleep, I know you have to get up early tomorrow. Look after my hubby for me!" She winked and hopped off the bed.

"Goodnight Alice."

"Goodnight."

I lay back in bed and put my hand over my forehead. This just got a lot harder than it already was. We were all on this crash course, destined for a collision. And it was going to be fatal when it finally did. Who knows who will survive and what will be left of them?


	12. Nothing But the Truth

**A/N: Just a note to get you going. This is a big chapter in many many ways. That's all I'm saying.....review after you pick your jaw up off the floor : )**

"I have landed! Bring on the chicks!" Emmett yelled as we exited the airport into the humid Miami weather.

"You better hope I don't tell Rose that you said that, she'd kick your ass." I started fanning myself. Going from the mostly crisp, cool Northeast to hot and stuffy Miami was quite a change.

Edward walked out carrying our bags and set them down on the pavement, looking around. "Didn't Tanya say they'd be sending someone to pick us up?"

"I thought so." Jasper pulled out his cell phone. "Hello Tanya….Yes we've just landed. We're standing outside of the terminal now….Alright. See you in a minute."

"See you in a minute?" I asked. "Is Tanya picking us up?"

Edward cleared his throat and looked down.

"Apparently." He stood up on his tiptoes looking over the crowd. "There she is."

I turned around and followed the direction of his gaze.

It was like in the movies where the whole world starts moving in slow motion when a beautiful woman walks in the room. The crowds parted and the wind kicked up just then, blowing her perfect strawberry blonde hair back. I didn't miss how every single guy she passed gaped at her raw beauty long after she'd walked by. I wanted to vomit.

"Jasper." She smiled and reached up to give him a kiss on both cheeks.

"Emmett." Emmett shook her hand and bent down to give her a peck on the cheek.

She hesitated before moving onto me and Edward. My hand reached for Edward's a moment before her eyes glanced towards us.

"Edward. Nice to see you again."

He took her hand and kissed it quickly. "You too Tanya." Bitch. "May I introduce Bella." He pulled his hand from mine and placed it on the small of my back, inching me forward.

I was in no condition to be introduced to someone this beautiful. I'd just spent three hours sleeping on a plane and woke up with drool sliding down my face. My hair was done in a messy bun, hidden mostly by a baseball cap and I had absolutely no makeup on. I'm surprised she didn't laugh and ask where the hidden camera was.

"Bella," she said sweetly. Too sweetly. Almost in the way that someone would say your name before they told you that you had toilet paper stuck on your shoe. "You're just so different than what I expected." I felt Edward grab hold of my shirt from the back, cautioning me not to kick this bitch's ass. I pulled a little forward and he pulled me a little back. I forced a smile.

"Thank you for inviting us here Tanya. That was very kind of you."

She smiled again and turned away from us. "This way please."

Edward smiled and took my hand, pulling me along. He bent down and whispered in my ear. "Good girl."

Tanya led us to the largest stretch limo I've ever seen in my life. The chauffer loaded our luggage into the back as we crawled in. Tanya sat in the back, motioning to Edward to sit next to her. I pulled him forcefully down next to me.

"I'll just sit here I think." His voice squeaked a little.

"So how is my good friend Aro?" Tanya began once the driver had turned on the engine.

"Very well." Jasper said smiling. Bullshit. We wouldn't be down here if Aro was very well.

"Actually," I started. "He'd be a lot better if we could actually run our business up in the city."

I felt Edward inhale quickly next to me and glance at Tanya from under his eyelashes.

She smiled. "All in good time Bella. Just enjoy yourselves tonight. We'll discuss business tomorrow at the gala."

I sat back in the chair and sighed loudly. Edward put his arm around my shoulder. I took note of the glaring stare of death I got from Tanya at his gesture.

The limo took us to our hotel. It looked a lot like the penthouse in New York, except it had a lot of neon pink and was called "The Pink Flamingo."

Jasper started getting out of the car. "Thank you Tanya. We'll see you tomorrow night then?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I want to make sure your accommodations are acceptable." She opened her car door and got out, snapping at the bell boy standing by the front door. "These go to the suite on the top floor." She gestured to the bags and handed him what looked like a hundred dollar bill. Show off.

She walked confidently into the hotel and was greeted by practically every person who walked by her.

"Yes I'm here to check in my dear friends. The reservation is for Denali." The woman at the front desk paused for a moment, obviously intimidated, before typing away at her computer.

"Oh yes. Denali. The suite on the top floor. Here are your keys. Your own personal elevator is down this hallway." She gestured to a doorway on her right.

"Thank you. And please make sure they are taken care of. Put anything on my tab."

"Yes Miss Denali. Of course."

We followed Tanya down the hallway, up the elevator that was big enough to fit an elephant, and into our luxurious room.

"Emmett's things here," she nodded at the first door down the hallway and the bellhop dropped off Emmett's Adidas bag.

"Jasper." She paused at the next door.

"And…Edward." She stopped at the last door of the hallway.

"Bella I put you on the other side of the suite. I thought you might like to be separated from the boys for a little bit." She nodded back down the hallway. That was bullshit. She was just trying to keep me away from Edward.

"Actually," I grabbed my bags from the bellhop. "I'll be staying in Edward's room." I stormed into it, without a farewell, and left all of them standing in the hallway.

"She's definitely a little firecracker," Tanya said. "Have a lovely evening." I peeked outside into the hall. Her eyes had lingered on Edward more than I liked.

He smirked at me as he closed our bedroom door.

"Defensive much?"

"She was practically eye-fucking you with me standing right there. Of course I'm defensive." I crossed my arms in front of me.

Edward took another step towards me.

"See? It's not easy being jealous. Maybe you won't be so hard on me about the grocery store incident now." His hand brushed against my arm. "And plus…" he leaned in closer. "That was really.." He clenched his eyes tight for a moment, "really sexy."

"Yeah?" I backed up until the back of my legs hit the bed.

He bent down to my neck and spoke into my skin. "Yeah." He placed a wet kiss on my skin. I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled us both down on the bed. He hovered above me and brought his lips to mine as his finger drifted slowly up my leg and hitched on the belt buckle of my jeans. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me. Edward sat up on the bed, pulling me up onto his lap. He forced my head sideways so he could kiss my neck. I could already feel the sweat dripping down my back. It was hot enough just sitting in the Miami weather, but this just intensified the heat.

"It's so hot," I whispered as his tongue grazed across my collarbone.

"Maybe you should take your clothes off…" He laughed.

My body froze as I glanced towards the nightstand. There, written in extremely feminine writing was single piece of paper the size of a business card. _See you later tonight_. My hand reached out and grabbed it. A key clanged to the top of the nightstand.

"What the fuck is this?"

Edward stopped pulling my bra strap down my arm and looked over.

"I don't know." He took the piece of paper from my hand and I stretched on my side to reach out for the key.

"Is this a key to her place?!"

Edward turned defensive. "I don't know. I didn't ask for it!"

"Unbelievable. No wonder she didn't want me staying in here. I'd see her little love note."

"Hey…" he whispered. He placed his finger under my chin and tilted my enraged face up to his. "It doesn't matter now does it?"

I started to say something but his mouth was on mine again as he took the key from my hand. I heard it clink on the wall behind us.

A pound on the door nearly made me fall off the bed.

"Stop having sex! We're going out!" Emmett yelled.

I laughed and kinked an eyebrow. "Wanna join?"

"Only if Edward leaves!" Emmett screamed.

Edward and I collapsed on the bed laughing.

"You know if he was anyone else I would have beat his ass for that."

"Well I for one have to take a shower, want to join me?" I got up and started towards our very own bathroom that was attached to the room.

"I don't know if I really need one." Edward lifted his arm and smelled.

I lifted my shirt over my head. "Let me rephrase that." I threw my shirt at him. "Come take a shower with me…" I laughed and ran into the bathroom to turn on the shower.

After a minute or two I felt him step in behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist to turn me around and push me against the bathroom wall. He planted his arms on either side of me, not allowing me to escape him. Not that I wanted to anyway.

"I need to tell you something Bella…" His face was serious.

"What is it?" My finger ran along his jaw, catching the droplets of water streaming down his face.

He looked down and shook his head. This wasn't good. He was really starting to worry me.

"Edward?" I grabbed his face in my hands and forced his eyes up. "What is it? You can tell me anything."

Then he looked me straight in the eye, strands of his sopping wet hair matting to his forehead. "I love you." His mouth turned up slightly on one side, forming my very favorite smile of his.

In that moment, I knew it too. I loved him more than I'd loved anyone or anything in my entire life and I didn't care anymore. I didn't care that I was supposed to be putting him in prison, or my job, or my dad. Maybe this was Jake's way of saving my life, even though I couldn't save his. He led me to Edward, my personal miracle in a tight leather jacket.

"I love you." I pressed my forehead to his. "God I love you…" I whispered.

We'd been in that shower for almost a half hour just holding each other when Emmett started pounding on the door.

""If you aren't out of that shower in 5 minutes I'm coming in there!"

Edward smiled and kissed my forehead before stepping out and wrapping a towel around his perfect body. I finished showering and stepped out in three minutes flat.

I swear the air was so warm my hair was dried and frizzy before I was even finished getting dressed. I braided the front into a loose French braid to tie up some of the strays and let the rest fall wavy down my back.

"Emmett…what are you wearing? It's not 1985," I said as I walked out into the living room.

"It's Miami," he said as he pulled at his popped collar. "I'm going Miami Vice style. Don't hate."

Edward smiled and walked over to me, taking my hand in his. "You look beautiful." He tugged lightly at the fabric of my long sundress.

"Thanks."

"You do look really beautiful Bells. All the guys are going to be so jealous that we're hanging out with you," Jasper said. It was nice to see the sweet side of him. Not that he wasn't a nice guy but he was definitely shyer than Edward and Emmett.

"Agreed," Emmett yelled. "Let's roll."

Edward and I walked hand in hand down the street a few paces behind Emmett and Jasper. The streets were overflowing with people, it was amazing. We found this cute little restaurant and bar that was right on the beach called Pirate Joe's. There was even a talking parrot by our table. Emmett got it to say "Fuck" and "Penis" before getting dirty looks from the waitress.

"Well guys, should we head back? It's getting late and we have a big day tomorrow…" Jasper stretched his arms over his head.

My eyes searched for Edward's as his hand found mine under the table.

"Actually I think we're going to go for a walk on the beach first…" Edward said.

"Yep." I nodded, not breaking eye contact with him. "On the beach."

"Okay fine. We'll see you tomorrow then."

Edward led me out onto the beach and we started down, away from the lights of the restaurant. The sun was just setting below the horizon.

We didn't say a word until we had walked all the way down to the pier and were on our way back.

"We have to tell Aro," Edward said.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to have to hide it anymore. I want to be able to be with you without wondering if it'll get back to him. I want to be able to build a life with you…and marry you…and have kids with you someday. We can't do that if we're always hiding."

My heart fluttered when he said that. I knew we were nowhere near being ready for that yet, but it made me happy that someday we might be.

"Will he be mad?"

"I don't know. Maybe." He shrugged his shoulders. "If he's really that pissed, we'll just leave. I don't think he'd like hunt us down or anything. I don't think it'd be worth it for him, but who knows."

That wasn't very reassuring, but he was right. If we were serious about us, and we were, then we'd have to tell him. Because this feeling in my chest wasn't going away and I didn't want it to.

Edward tried to lighten the mood by attempting to drag me into the cold waves. He threw me over his shoulder and went knee deep before he finally complied with my screams for him to put me down. He did. Right in the middle of the water. I reached up and pulled him down into the water with me.

"Now I'm going to have to shower again…" I complained.

"I'll take care of you, don't worry…" The thought of Edward giving me a sponge bath ran chills down my spine, and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the water.

"Can we go now?" I said eagerly.

I slept till noon the next day since Edward had kept me up all night "taking care of me." We'd definitely be continuing with the sponge bath routine once we got home.

Edward finally dragged my butt out of bed and forced me to go to the beach for the rest of the day. He and Emmett played catch while Jasper and I built a fucking awesome sandcastle. All the kids were jealous.

"So I never told you congratulations…" I smirked as I pushed some sand into our castle.

"Alice…" He shook his head. "I told her to keep it quiet until we got back. I wanted to talk to Aro about it."

"Don't worry I won't tell. It'll be our secret."

"Bella I know I never say it, but I'm really happy for you two. I mean look how happy he is…" He gestured over to Edward, who was doubled over in laughter. "I have you to thank for that."

"Oh I don't know if I can take all the credit…"

"You can. It's you Bella. You brought him back to life."

"We brought each other back. That's the way it's supposed to be."

"Hey guys we better get going. We have to be at the boat in a couple of hours." I peered over the beach. It was starting to clear out and the sun was beginning its descend towards the water.

I dressed a little nicer for the occasion. It was a gala, whatever the hell that meant. It sounded important. The guys all wore tuxes, and damn did Edward look good. We arrived at the dock right on time and were greeted by a man who told us the party was onboard in the Johnson room, and then gave a detailed and confusing set of directions that I paid no attention to. I was too distracted by Edward's face glowing in the moonlight.

"Crap I forgot my wallet," Emmett said, reaching in his pockets. "I'm going to run back to the hotel. I'll be back in a jiffy." He smiled and took off jogging.

Edward pulled me towards the boat. It was all lit up and looked more like the Titanic to me than a simple boat.

"Hey Jazz do you think you can make it to the party on your own?" I tugged on Edward's collar.

Jasper sighed. "Yes. Go play. Be there in a half hour, we need to do business."

"Yes Dad," Edward laughed as he followed me down a long corridor. I peeked into the first room I could find and was pleased to find it was empty. As soon as the door was closed I slammed Edward against the wall and kissed him.

"I should tell you I love you more often…" He said against my mouth.

"You really should." My hand felt at his pants.

"I love you….I love you…I love you…"

I felt the earth move. And it wasn't figuratively. The boat must have pushed off from the dock, but I barely noticed. My thoughts were on Edward and his hand that was slowly rising up my dress.

"We only have twenty more minutes, we should use our time wisely…" I knelt down in front of him and started unbuckling his pants.

All of the sudden my head smacked against the wall as my body was jarred by a jolt. I didn't even have time to comprehend the loud boom that accompanied it.

"What the fuck was that?" I said reaching up to where my head had hit the wall.

"I don't know. Are you okay?" Edward pulled me up off the ground.

I pulled my hand down and saw red.

"If bleeding from the head is okay then yes I'm okay."

"Are you dizzy?" Edward turned me around and looked at my head. When he pulled his hands back they have spots of red all over them. He rummaged through the cupboards and found a towel to press it against my wound. "It's not too bad. Just keep holding it there."

I reached up and held the towel there with one hand. Edward opened the door and peered out the hallway before grabbing my other hand and pulling me out. As we turned the corner to follow where Jasper went we were met with a cloud of smoke.

"Oh my God. What happened?" I said as Edward whipped me back around the corner.

"I don't know. We have to get out of here." He pulled me towards a stairwell we'd passed on our way to the room. After climbing a few flights of steps we came to a door that said deck.

"Stay here," he whispered. He pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket and opened the door. I didn't even know he had a gun on him. How'd I miss that?

He reappeared a moment later and told me to come out. I looked back at the boat and saw more smoke billowing from it. This was definitely trouble.

"Listen to me, I have to go get Jasper. As crazy as it sounds, I need you to jump. We're not even 100 yards from the dock okay." He pulled my dress over my head. "Take your shoes off."

I bent down and slipped out of them.

"Jump Bella. I'll be right there."

I was scared to leave him. Who knows what had happened or who had caused it?

"I'm scared for you…" I whispered.

He took my face in his hands. "Don't worry babe. I'll be fine." He planted a soft kiss on my lips. "Go."

I turned and stepped over the railing, looking down into the water below. With one last look back at Edward, I leaped into the icy cold water. I now fully understood why he'd insisted I take my shoes and dress off. It was hard enough to swim in the dark, I didn't need those things weighing me down. Once I made it to shore I sat curled up on the dock, trying to keep warm. The smoke from the boat just kept getting bigger and bigger. I swore I could see some flames spouting out in some places. I heard the ship grumble and then with a loud boom and flash it split completely in half. A huge fireball erupted into the sky.

I jumped up and pulled my hands to my mouth, screaming.

"Edward!" I doubled over. "Edward!" I started to jump back into the water, but someone's strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back.

"Oh my God Bella what happened?" Emmett looked out over the water.

"I…I don't know." I could barely speak through my hysterical tears. "Jasper and us got separated and then we heard this loud boom and there was smoke and Edward told me to jump. He went back to get Jasper." I buried my face in my hands. "Oh my God!"

A crowd of people had started gathering around, pointing at the fireball where the ship used to be.

"Here put this on and stay here!" Emmett handed me his jacket to cover my half naked body and jumped into the water. I sat and rocked back and forth, crying in pain. "Please don't let him die…please, please…" I prayed.

"Here! Give me his arm!" I looked up to see Emmett pulling a lifeless Jasper out of the water. Edward jumped up after him.

I dropped Emmett's jacket and jumped into Edward's arms.

"Edward I…I thought…I thought you were…" I planted him with kisses.

"Edward he's not breathing!" Emmett yelled as he stood over Jasper's body. I've never seen him so terrified in my entire life.

Edward bent down and started administering CPR. I knelt down beside him and watched, absolutely helpless.

"Edward…" Emmett locked eyes with Edward as he pounded on Jasper's chest.

"No Emmett."

"Edward he's going to die! Do it!" Now Emmett was angry. I didn't understand why or what he wanted Edward to do.

Edward hesitated and looked down at Jasper's body. I grabbed Jazz's hand and kissed it.

"Fine." Edward looked quickly at me with regret in his eyes and reached for his cell phone.

"This is Officer Edward Cullen. I need a bus down at the marina now!"


	13. Hypocrite

It took the paramedics three minutes and twenty-five seconds to get Jasper breathing again. It took thirteen minutes to get from the marina to the hospital. A month and a half to find trust and love. And an instant to realize that it was gone. One moment can completely turn your whole world upside down. Everything you thought you knew was wrong. Turns out you don't know anything.

Edward refused to look at me the entire ride to the hospital. He didn't reach over to comfort me when I started crying hysterically, fearing for Jasper's life. He didn't take my hand when we sat in the waiting room hoping for news on Jasper. Nothing. He sat across the small room flipping idly through a sports magazine, his leg bouncing nervously up and down.

I was sad and confused and hurt, but above all things I was angry. He had lied to me this whole time, I didn't even know him.

"Anyone here for a Jasper Hale?" A nurse entered the waiting room, scanning the crowd.

Edward and I quickly stood up.

"Is there any family here? I can't really release any information to you…" She scrutinized both of us.

Edward finally turned to me. "Could you give us some privacy?" He never looked me in the eye, always keeping his head slightly down.

What was he going to do, try to dazzle the nurse into giving him information? Who knows, he'd dazzled me into giving way more than that.

I nodded and went back to my seat. He put his hand on the nurses back and led her further down the hallway. They reemerged a minute later and Edward walked over to me.

"We can go see him now…"

I huffed. "How'd you scheme your way into this?" I brushed past him and into the double doors in front of us.

The nurse from earlier was at the desk and she led us to a small room at the end of a long hallway. "He's right through here," she said before leaving to give us some privacy. I felt Edward step up behind me, but I couldn't go in. I was terrified at what I was going to see, because despite my intentions with this job, I had grown close to these people. Jasper was just like a brother to me. I didn't know if I could handle seeing him like this.

For the first time since the marina, Edward finally touched me, putting his hand on the small of my back and giving me a comforting rub. I wiped the tear that was starting to run down my cheek and walked through the door.

There he was; tubes, wires, and machines everywhere. I brought my hand over my mouth and gasped, instinctively turning into Edward. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head.

"He's going to be okay Bella. They had to take him into surgery because he had a collapsed lung. But other than that and some burns he's going to be okay."

I turned back towards him. Now I could see the crescent shaped burns on his face.

"How did they get like that…the shape I mean. What happened?" I almost reached out and touched Jasper's face but I held back.

"They aren't sure. They said it was something to do with the explosion and how the metal heated. When the boat ripped apart , the shards of metal broke off in that crescent shape so when it hit his face…" He trailed off.

I sat down in a chair on the side of the bed and took Jasper's hand.

"Did you call Alice?"

"No. I don't want to worry her. And I need to prepare before I talk to Aro about this. Alice's big mouth would get us in trouble."

"You know they're getting married?" I rubbed my finger across the top of Japer's hand.

Edward looked taken aback. "No…I..guess I didn't know that."

"She came to me the night before we left….asked me to be her maid of honor."

Edward sat down in the chair beside me. I decided now was a better time as any.

"So are we going to talk about this?" I whispered.

"Talk about what?"

"The fact that you were lying to me this whole time…" I said through clenched teeth. I couldn't believe he had the audacity to ask me that. He knew damn well what.

"Well we all have our secrets don't we?" He said sarcastically.

"What the hell does that m-"

The door opened. Charlie and Carlisle stepped inside.

"Dad?" Edward and I said in unison. Dad? Officer Edward Cullen. Suddenly that made sense now.

My head shot towards Edward. He looked down, avoiding my gaze.

"Bella, can I talk to you outside for a moment?" Charlie scratched his head and nodded to the door.

I glared at Edward before following Charlie outside.

"Listen I know you're upset about Cullen okay?" He put his hands up defensively. "But I thought it was for the best…."

"Wait, wait, wait. This was your doing?" I pointed a finger at him.

"I'm your father Bella, I'm supposed to protect you."

"Tell me everything now." I crossed my arms in front of me and tried to calm down.

He put his hands on his hips and shuffled his feet. "I…" He looked up at me. "I kind of freaked out a little when I realized Carlisle was going to put you in there okay? I already had a few guys in there, but they had enough to worry about so I overreacted and sent Edward in there to look after you." He looked down at his feet.

"You sent him in there to protect me?" My anger was growing exponentially as each moment passed. "I'm not a child anymore!" I screamed. "Speaking of children what was with the whole dad scenario in there with Edward?"

"I had three of Carlisle's boys in my precinct." He whispered.

My mind started racing. Emmett. Jasper. And Edward. I gripped the wall for support.

"They're his sons…" I said to myself. That's why the nurse let us in here, Edward is his brother.

The whole world around me started spinning and I felt my knees buckle right before everything went back. And just before I fell into oblivion I felt someone's arms catch me from behind.

"Bella?" I felt someone grab onto my hand, but I still couldn't will myself to open my eyes. "Bella?" The voice called again. I knew it in an instant.

"Go away Edward," I whispered.

I heard him laugh once, followed by a loud slap.

"Ouch." He let go of my hand and I could hear him rubbing against his shirt. "You didn't have to hit me. She's just as much of a smart ass as ever, that's all."

I finally opened my eyes. I was in my own hospital room, lying in a soft bed, in my own clothes and surrounded by the three people I hated most right now.

"Bella you fainted," Carlisle said taking a step towards me.

"How do you feel baby?" Charlie sat down on the side of my bed and ran his hand over my forehead. I shuddered away.

My eyes shifted to all three of them, resting finally on Edward. I glanced down at my hand, which was entwined with his. I yanked it out and pulled it towards me. He had no right to hold my hand. Not now.

"I'd like you all to leave," I said looking straight ahead.

"Carlisle and Charlie knew me well enough to know that when I used that tone of voice I should be left alone. I wasn't impartial to kicking someone's ass, even from this hospital bed. Edward didn't move.

I turned towards him. "What part of I'd like you all to leave didn't you understand?"

"I know. I just. I need to talk to you."

"No you don't you need to leave. I don't want to talk to you right now." My brain had way too much to process. I couldn't handle anything else.

Charlie popped his head in the door. "Edward we need to speak to you please."

With one last look at me, Edward stood up and sauntered out the door.

They were stupid enough to leave the door slightly cracked. I could hear the whole conversation.

Charlie pushed Edward, slamming him into the wall. Several nurses looked their direction, but went back to work once Charlie flashed his badge.

"What the hell was that for?" Edward yelled.

"You know damn well what it's for. I sent you in there to look after her, not sleep with her."

Edward's face turned serious. "I'm sorry Charlie. That was my fault okay?"

Even though I was angry with him, I couldn't stand to hear him say that. It was like I was torn in two. A part of me hating Edward the cop and a part of me loving Edward the mobster. For the moment I pushed all the loving feelings I had away. I could barely even stand to look at him right now.

"Pipe down you two," Carlisle said as he walked over from the nurse's station. "We need to figure out what we're going to do about Jasper. He'll be in the hospital for over a week. He can't go back."

"Aro will be way too suspicious if he finds out he's in a hospital down here. He'll get his people to find out everything. We need to do something and quick. We can't wait." Edward looked at Charlie. "You're going to have to call the papers."

Charlie reluctantly nodded his head and opened his cell phone. "Yeah it's Chief Swan. Hey I need you to do a leak a story for me...National…yes….Man dies in Boat Explosion. Yep. Bye." He hung up the phone.

"I booked us all rooms at a hotel close to here. The Seaside Resort. Just for tonight. You guys will have to head back to New York tomorrow to deal with all this." He gestured towards Edward.

"Where's Emmett?" Edward asked.

"I sent him to go get your things from your other hotel. He should be back in the room now. Room 210. You can go now Edward, we'll take it from here. Your plane leaves in the morning, Charlie will drop Bella off at the airport." Edward looked at me one more time before turning away and leaving.

My fists clenched tight at my sides. I was so sick of being treated like I was five years old. And being lied to. And feeling like I wasn't worth the truth.

"Let's go get some coffee." Charlie nodded to Carlisle and they headed towards the cafeteria.

I decided that now was my chance. I stood up off the bed, a little wobbly at first, and headed towards the door. I was ready to have that conversation with Edward.

"Seaside resort please…" I said to the taxi driver as I got in.

"You hear about that boat explosion down at the marina? It was just on the news," The driver said trying to make small talk.

"Yeah I did…" I said shaking my head.

"I guess a guy was on the boat. Died. Blown to pieces."

I winced, because even though I knew it wasn't true, the memory of Jasper being on that boat made me nauseous.

We pulled into the hotel ten minutes later. It was a quaint motel, much smaller and junkier than the ones I'd been used to lately.

I handed the cabbie a few bucks from my pockets and headed inside. I hope Edward knew what he was getting himself into when he got involved in this. Because I was pissed, hurt, betrayed, and angry as hell. And he was the one who had to deal with it.

"Can I help you miss?" The concierge said.

"Room 210 please?"

"Up the stairs and to the left. Should I ring them and tell them that you're coming up."

"No."

He was a bit taken back by my answer and watched me as I stomped to the stairs and ran up them. I was all out of breath by the time I reached their hotel room door. My fist pounded on their door once, twice, five times before someone answered.

"Hi Bella," Emmett said, scratching his head like he'd just woken up.

"Get out. I need to talk to him."

"He's not here."

I put my hands on my hips. "Well where the fuck is he then?"

"Whoa calm down girl. I think he said he was sneaking in a smoke up on the roof. Geez you don't have to be so bitchy."

I pointed a finger at him. "You lied to me too you asshole. I'll deal with you later."

He looked at me with sarcastic disgust as he closed the door. I was already running towards the service stairs. It was only one more flight to the top. I flung the door open and looked around. He was leaned up against the side of the little shed on top of the roof wearing that damn leather jacket and pulling a cigarette out of his mouth.

He looked up at me as I marched over to him,

"Take that cigarette out of your mouth," I said.

He looked confused, but he threw it down on the ground and stomped it out before he started to say something.

My fist cut him off, smacking into the mouth with more force than I'd ever put into a punch.

He grabbed at his jaw.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"I didn't want to burn my hand."

"No, why did you hit me?"

"Is it really not obvious?"

"Bella you're over-reacting."

"I'm over-reacting!?" The tears started spilling over. "When were you going to tell me Edward? When we were married and starting a family? Or was that all a lie too? Was it part of the plan to distract me so I couldn't do my job? Just to give my father some ammo to get me fired?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He threw his hands up. "First of all. I couldn't tell you. It was my job to keep quiet. And you of all people should know what that means." He turned away from me and put his hands on his hips. "You're such a hypocrite…" He whispered.

"What did you say?" I took a step towards him.

He turned back to face me. "I said you're a hypocrite," he said sternly. "You're sitting here bitching and yelling at me because I wasn't truthful with you, but you were doing the same thing. If I was really who I said I was, were you ever going to tell me that you were a cop?"

I paused, not really sure what to say. "That's different. You knew! You knew everything! And you played me like I was just some stupid girl."

"You really think that's how I saw you? As just some ditzy bimbo that I could play with?"

Edward's phone started ringing. He sighed and reached in his pocket.

"It's Aro," he said before he answered, putting it on speakerphone. "Aro…"

"Edward what the hell is going on? We've been trying to contact you, we saw the news," Aro said.

"I'm sorry. We couldn't contact you; we just found ourselves another hotel to stay. I don't trust the Denalis anymore, not one bit. They lured us to that boat with no intentions of any of us getting out alive."

It was so strange to hear Edward act this way with Aro, knowing who and what he really was now.

"Are you on speaker phone?" Edward continued.

"I am. Alice and Rosalie are here."

"Edward can I talk to Jasper?" Alice's voice came over the speaker. She sounded worried.

Oh God. Alice. We're going to have to tell her that her fiancée is dead.

"He's not…here right now Alice. Can I talk to Aro privately please?" Edward said.

"Where is he Edward?" Alice yelled. She started crying.

"Edward was it him…?" Aro said softly.

Edward put his phone down, not knowing what to say. After a long pause he answered. "Yes."

All I could hear were Alice's screams in the background. I collapsed to the floor, absolutely heartbroken to hear her in so much pain.

"I have to go," Aro said. Then the line went dead.

I wanted to continue the screaming match we were having before Aro called, but for some reason it didn't feel like the right time. I was completely drained and emotional as hell. It just wasn't right.

"What do we do now?" I asked, pulling myself off the ground.

"We have to go back to New York and bury Jasper."


	14. Not Okay

**A/N: Okay so I haven't been having specific songs for specific chapters for this story, but for this one I do and trust me it makes the chapter that much better if you either listen to it before or while you're reading. So the song is "Feeling a Moment" by Feeder. And by the way you might want to keep the Kleenex handy for this chapter. It's a tearjerker.**

"Bella wake up. We're here." I woke with a start and realized I had fallen asleep on Edward's shoulder. I instantly distanced myself from him. We hadn't spoken the whole flight.

"Ladies and Gentlemen thank you so much for flying with us today. We should be landing in about twenty minutes so please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened while we begin our descent," the captain's voice spoke over the intercom.

I stretched over Edward to peak out the window. The lights of New York City glowed beneath us.

Edward cleared his throat as my shoulder brushed against his chest. I drew back and sat upright in my own seat, staring straight ahead.

Our plane landed just as a thunderstorm was rolling in. Once we'd picked up our luggage from baggage claim, we headed out towards the car. Emmett didn't say a word as he took my bag from me and carried it the rest of the way. I glanced up at him and he looked down and smiled slightly. It didn't matter. I was still mad at him.

Demetri was there with the car to pick us up.

"So how was the trip?" He said, trying to fill the awkward silence.

We all stared at him wondering how the fuck we were supposed to answer that question. We were sitting here going back to the penthouse, without Jasper, who was still sitting in a hospital bed down in Miami. And tomorrow we'd have to pretend to mourn for him. It was beyond crazy. And to put a cherry on top of all that, I was going to have to face a devastated Alice who thinks that the love of her life got blown up on a yacht.

"Bella wake up. We're here." Fuck my life that's embarrassing. I fell asleep again. On Edward's shoulder. I really needed to start carrying one of those blow up donut pillows around in my purse to avoid situations like this.

Rose was sitting in the kitchen when we walked in, her eyes all red and puffy. As soon as Emmett was in the door, she leaped up into his arms, burying her face in his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Shh…baby. Calm down. It's okay." Emmett rubbed her back.

She clung to him tighter. I could understand her pain. She thinks she lost her brother and she almost lost her boyfriend. I'd probably be freaking out too.

"Come on let's go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow." Emmett started carrying her down the hallway.

"Um Rose?" I peaked my head around the corner.

She titled her head up from Emmett and looked at me.

"Where is she?"

She nodded her head towards Jasper's door as they passed.

"Edward can you make some hot tea please?" I started down the hallway.

"I don't know if…" he said apprehensively.

"Don't argue with me, just do it." I left him in the kitchen and if he knew what was good for him, he'd make the damn tea.

I thought about knocking, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. I opened the door slowly into complete darkness. It wasn't like I'd really been in Jasper's room, so I had no idea where anything was. My hand felt along the wall for the light switch.

A flash of lightning illuminated the room as the rain started pouring down outside. For an instant I saw the bed in the corner of the room and a lamp to the side of me. I reached out and turned it on, thankful that it wasn't too bright. I didn't want to scare her.

There she was. Curled up in the middle of the bed wearing a pair of Jasper's boxers and one of his old t-shirts fast asleep.

I walked tentatively to the bed and sat down on the edge. She shot up and looked around, groggy and disoriented.

"Jasper?" She whispered. Her voice cracked slightly.

"Sorry Al. It's just me…" I watched her just to gage her reaction.

She nodded slowly and looked out the window at the raindrops that were pelting against the window. In one swift motion she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, rocking back and forth.

"I really thought we were going to be happy Bella…" She broke out in sobs.

I put my arms around her and started crying with her. It was all so heartbreaking.

There was a soft knock on the door. Edward opened it slowly and peaked his head in.

"Hey I brought you some tea."

I waved him in. "You can set it on the table. Thank you."

"Okay…" He set the two steaming cups down and started to back away. "Um. Just let me know if you need anything else."

I nodded and turned back to Alice. I was still angry as ever with him, but we had to get through this and deal with it and honestly we'd need to help each other. Especially tomorrow.

Alice cried hysterically for another ten minutes, desperately clinging to my shirt. She finally sat back a little. I took some of the pillows and propped them up against the headboard.

"Here sit back," I patted them. "Sip some tea, it'll make you feel better." I took one cup from the table and handed it to her. She sniffled and took a sip.

I took mine from the table and rested it in my lap. I didn't say anything; I figured she'd talk when she wanted to. We had all night and I figured it was going to be a long one.

"I want to know what happened…" she finally said, setting her head back against the headboard.

"Alice I don't think you need to hear…"

"Please Bella." She finally looked me right in the eye and my heart was breaking right there with hers.

"Okay." I swallowed hard. "Well we were going to the yacht. We were almost there and Emmett realized he forgot his wallet so he went back. Jasper…he went ahead of us. Edward and I were fooling around in one of the rooms. We smelled smoke so Edward got me out and went back for Jasper. When I made it back to shore it just…went up. I'm sorry Alice we should have went and got him before…" I shook my head.

"It's not your fault." She grabbed a Kleenex out of the heap that had formed on the bedspread and wiped her nose. "I bet he was so scared."

"Actually he was really happy when I last saw him. He said I wish Alice were here." I decided it was okay to lie to her a little bit if it would make her feel better.

She smiled slightly and closed her eyes. "God I love him," she whispered. "How am I going to get through this?"

"You won't be alone." I took her hand. I'm here. We're here. Always. I felt her engagement ring under my hand. She looked down as she pulled her hand away.

"I guess I won't be needing this anymore." She slid the ring slowly off her finger and set it on the windowsill.

"Come on, let's go to sleep." I slid under the covers and pulled them back for her. She got in and we nestled in, facing one another.

"It's going to be okay Al. I mean I won't lie, tomorrow is going to be tough. It's probably going to be the toughest day of your life, but you'll get through it because you're strong and so brave. And I love you so much."

"I love you too. You're my best friend." She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

When I was finally sure she was asleep I tiptoed across the room and took her ring off the sill. Hopefully she wouldn't wake up while I was gone. I didn't want her waking up alone.

I snuck back to my room and started digging in my jewelry box. When I found the empty silver chain I opened the end and slung the ring onto it.

"Is she okay?" Edward's voice came from behind me.

I spun around and he was lying on my bed, underneath a blanket like he'd just woken up. He was waiting for me to come back.

"No Edward she's not okay."

"Bella we need to talk."

"Not now. We have to deal with this. We can talk about this later." I held up my hand and walked out of the room.

I crawled back into bed with Alice after I strategically latched the necklace, now adorned with Jasper's ring, around her neck. I didn't fall asleep until the sun started to show itself behind the rain clouds on the horizon.

A knock on the door woke me.

"Bella it's Emmett. You guys should probably get up we have to be at the funeral in three hours."

"Okay." I looked back at Alice. She looked so peaceful and at ease. And happy. I was afraid to wake her from whatever she was dreaming because it was a hell of a lot better than the reality she was about to endure. When I couldn't wait any longer I finally nudged her.

"Hey Alice. We have to get ready to go to the church."

She opened her eyes and sat up. The necklace hit with a thud against her skin. She looked down and ran her fingers over it.

"Just because he's gone doesn't mean he can't be with you everyday."

She smiled for an instant and pinched the ring between her fingers for a moment before letting it drop.

I got up and stretched my arms above my head. "I'll start your shower for you." I walked out of the room and down to the bathroom. Emmett was just closing the door to his room.

"How is she?" I asked, nodding towards his room.

"She's a mess. How's Alice?"

"A mess. Today is going to be hard."

"Yeah."

I walked past him and went into the bathroom to turn on the water. I stuck my hand in the water and waited for it to get warm enough before walking back out and down to Jasper's room.

Alice wasn't on the bed. In fact she was nowhere in sight. I heard a rustling noise behind me and spun around. Alice was in the enormously too big closet rummaging through her clothes.

"I don't have anything to wear."

"What about this black dress? That's nice," I said pointing to the one she had in her hand.

"It's not good enough." She threw it forcefully on the floor.

"Well what about this one?" I pulled another one off the rack.

"No!" She ripped it from my hands and tossed it on the floor. "Nothing is good enough. I want to look good for him, he deserves it." She looked at her tear-stained face in the mirror and brushed her hair aside.

"Why don't you go take your shower, don't worry about what you're wearing, I'll pick something out for you. You know he thinks you're beautiful in anything."

She shuffled out of the room and I heard the bathroom door close.

I picked up the simple black dress she'd thrown on the floor. It was a perfectly acceptable dress. She was just obviously frustrated with everything and clothes were the one thing she could control even when her world was spinning out of control. I laid the dress down neatly on the bed and searched for some black shoes. I set the black pumps I'd picked out next to the dress. No jewelry. I figured the only piece of jewelry she'd care about wearing was the one she already was.

I snuck into Edward and my bathroom to get a quick shower in. I got dressed quickly and headed back to Jasper's room. Alice was just slipping into the dress when I walked in.

"You're right. This dress is okay I guess."

"Sit down. I'll dry your hair for you."

She sat on the edge of the bed and stared blankly ahead. I dried her hair the best I could and did her makeup the best I could. I didn't go overboard because I knew better than to think that she wouldn't be a crying mess later.

"Okay Al why don't you go and sit in the living room while I go get ready. We'll leave soon."

"No. I want to stay here." She lay back on the bed and grabbed one of Jasper's pillows to lay her head on.

I wasn't going to argue with her. Not today.

"Okay I'll come get you when we're leaving."

I took my time drying my hair. I needed to collect my thoughts and prepare myself for what was about to happen. I wished with all my heart that I could just tell Alice everything. That Jasper was alive and he was going to be okay. But as much as I wanted to I couldn't do that.

My head started to get dizzy with all the emotions running through me and I felt my knees buckle. I reached out for the desk in front of me but my arms had turned to Jell-O. A pair of arms caught me from behind.

"Hey are you okay?" Edward sat down on my bed and pulled me onto it.

I tilted my face up to meet his gaze and for an instant all my anger towards him vanished and all I wanted to do was be in his arms. I needed him to protect me. I don't know if I truly forgave him for everything that happened or if I was just overly emotional and needed his touch, but I pulled myself onto his lap.

"Hold me," I whispered as my lips grazed his neck. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer. My emotions took over and I suddenly felt thankful for having Edward. I could still touch him and see him and kiss him. Alice didn't have that anymore. I should feel lucky that the person I love is still around, even if I wasn't sure if I hated or loved him more right now.

I pulled my face back from his skin and held his face in my hands. His beautiful green eyes were full of as much pain and sadness as I'm sure mine were.

"What?" Edward said, confused by my silent epiphany.

I didn't say another word as I pulled his face to mine. My hands ran over his suit jacket and pushed it off his shoulders. He reached slowly up my spine and slid the zipper of my dress down my back before placing his hands inside and settling on my lower back. A warm tear ran down my cheek.

It wasn't dirty or even just sex. It was so much more in that moment. I needed to have him close to me in every possible way no matter what my mind was telling me.

"Was that…okay? What just happened?" Edward said as he was zipping my dress back up. I hesitated.

"I. I don't know." I was so confused again. Of course I loved him, there was no denying that. But things were so much more complicated than that. If love was all you needed in the world there would be a lot less pain and suffering in it.

"What does that mean Bella?" He sat back down on the bed and re-buttoned the cuffs on his shirt.

"I don't know." I opened the door and walked out.

"Where have you guys been, we need to go." Emmett was sitting on the couch with Rose, holding her hand.

"We were just talking." Edward walked in behind me with his jacket thrown over his shoulder. "I'll go get Alice."

I avoided the stares and walked back down to Jasper's room.

"Alice?" I said, opening the door. "We have to go honey."

She sat up mechanically from the bed and started towards the door.

"Don't forget your purse." I had made sure to stuff some extra Kleenex in there while she was in the shower. She grabbed it on her way out the door, not even looking back.

I took her hand as we walked down the hallway and into the living room.

"Okay let's go."

The rest of the day passed by in slow motion and sped by at the same time, if that was even possible.

There were so many people at the church, it was unbelievable. I recognized most of the people we had visited to try and get business during the whole blacklisting incident. It was good to see that they came to support us, even if they couldn't any other way.

Aro, Marcus, and Caius sat in the front row along with us. He kissed all of us on the cheek before sitting down.

I didn't know if the eulogy was long or short. In fact I didn't hear one word of it. I sat and watched Alice's every move and every reaction, ready to catch her if she had a breakdown. It happened a few times, but I expected that. It was all she could do just to survive. I locked eyes with Edward a couple of times, but I tried to avoid him.

"Does anyone have anything they'd like to share with the group?" The speaker said, looking around the room.

I took one look at Alice and stood up to walk to the podium.

"A few weeks ago Jasper and I were both battling some serious insomnia. So we decided to…celebrate it with a tub of Ben and Jerry's." A few people in the crowd laughed. "And I asked him what the story was with him and Alice." I smiled in her direction. "Apparently he was about to propose to his girlfriend at the time. And then he met Alice. "That was it," he said. "I knew right then and there that this was my woman and nothing and nobody else mattered. That was it."" I looked back at Alice. "You were it for him Al. He loved you more than anything. I wanted to make sure that you knew that." I stepped away from the podium and felt Edward's eyes on me the entire time I walked back to my seat.

I empathized with Jasper that night. Because even though I didn't know what it meant at the time. I felt the very same way when I met Edward.

**A/N: Okay first of all before you yell at me for having Bella and Edward have sex before Jasper's "funeral", don't. Like Bella said it was something dirty or really erotic even, it was more of an emotional thing.**

**Secondly, Bella is more confused than ever right now, so that's kind of why she's flip flopping and really torn between her love for Edward and her hate for what he did (even if in your opinion she was being a hypocrite) I was just trying to answer the people who I know will be questioning why she is doing some of these things. She doesn't know why and she doesn't really know what she wants or how things will turn out. It's all a mystery for her. **

**Okay rant over. Thank you guys for continuing to read. I love you all, even if you guys get mad at me for doing things I do. Haha. And I also love reviews, so leave lots of them : )**


	15. The Talk

It had been a full two weeks since the funeral. Things hadn't gotten better. Alice was still a zombie. I had to remind her to shower and brush her hair and basically force her to get dressed. I know she was depressed, but I was hoping with all of my heart that this wouldn't last long. As much as I knew that this was just something that she needed to work through, she can't keep living like this, we can't keep living like this. It's not healthy for anyone.

I still haven't had "the talk" with Edward or Emmett. I think I'm scared about what they're going to say or how I'm going to react. It's terrifying. I thought maybe it was best to start with Emmett as a warm up. Maybe that would help me when I had to deal with Edward. I hoped anyway.

I slipped the piece of paper under Emmett's door and went into my bathroom to wait. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I felt like the bathroom was the only safe place to talk. Who knows who is listening to our every conversation, every move around the penthouse. I didn't know if it was bugged or if Aro installed some kind of security measures since he'd become suspicious of rats. I shuddered at the thought that someone heard every word Edward and I have said to each other or seen every touch we've shared.

"Bella?" Emmett knocked on the door.

"Come in." I pulled myself up and sat on the edge of the counter. Emmett walked in and closed the door softly behind him. "I assume you know why I want to talk to you."

"Yeah I guess so." He looked down and started nervously folding my note in his hands.

"I just don't understand why you couldn't have told me Emmett. I thought we were friends. I mean aren't we?"

"Of course we are Bella. I was doing a job though. Just like you. I was instructed not to reveal to you who we were and I followed that. You of all people should understand that."

And I guess I did partially. After all, I hid my true identity from them. It just seemed a little different to me I guess, since we were all on the good side. I had no way of knowing whose side they would be on before.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Rose is in on it too." I guess after all the bombshells I've encountered in the past few weeks, that didn't surprise me.

"Yeah so how does that work? You and Rose? Please tell me you're not blood related."

"No" He laughed. "Jasper and Rose are blood related. But the rest of us aren't. Carlisle and his wife Esme adopted all of us when we were little. Jasper and Rosalie were just a package deal, luckily for me."

"Does she know about Jasper?"

"Not at first. That's why she was so upset. I mean my girl is a good actress, but she was heartbroken and it almost killed me too. To see her like that. I hated every minute that I was lying to her. I finally told her a few days after the funeral." He pulled himself up and sat next to me on the counter, his feet dangling over the side.

"Was she mad?"

"Remember that day I showed up with a cut on my lip?"

"Yeah." I looked down at his lip now. It was almost completely healed.

"That was the day that I told her."

"Wow she must have been really mad."

"She was. But after the initial shock wore off I think she was just relieved. And she understood why I couldn't tell her sooner. Secrecy comes with this job. She knows that."

"Yeah I guess so." My hands started wringing nervously. If Rose understood when Emmett lied to her, why couldn't I be as understanding with Edward? I make no sense whatsoever. Even to myself.

"So what is Alice in on it too?" I giggled a little. It wouldn't be that crazy at this point.

"No. She really is just working for Aro. Jasper fell head over heels for her when he first started working here. Chief told him to leave her alone but he just couldn't. He got ripped a new one for that. Chief was not happy. Took Jasper a full two weeks to convince him to grant her immunity once this whole thing was over."

"Wow…" I shook my head in disbelief. In all honesty, Alice probably couldn't be prosecuted for anything serious. She was never involved in any of the illegal activities and it wouldn't really be worth it. And besides anyone who could look Alice in the face and charge her with something was seriously cold. She was absolutely infectious, in a good way. It brought me some joy to realize that Alice would make it out of this okay. Now I had to ask him the hard question.

"Who killed him?"

"Who?"

"Jake. My partner Jake."

"Oh." Emmett stared straight ahead. "I can't be sure. Jasper and I weren't in the warehouse that day. My money would be on Demetri." He shook his head. "I'm sorry about that Bells. I wish I could have stopped it. I would have stopped it. He was a good guy."

"Yeah he was. I miss him." I smiled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He jumped off the counter and stood directly in front of me.

"I'm the one who ate your turkey sandwich last week."

I laughed and punched him playfully before wrapping my arms around him. "Thank you for being honest with me Emmett. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome. And I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you anything before. And Bells?"

I pulled my face back from his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Don't be too hard on Edward. He was in the same position as I was."

"He may have the same job as you but our relationship was obviously different Emmett. He should have told me." I pushed my forehead into Emmett's chest. His hand ran through my hair. "I don't even know how I can talk to him about it. You were supposed to be my buffer conversation but I feel like it won't go as well as ours did."

I tilted my head to the side when I heard the door creak open. In a flash Emmett was torn from my arms and held against the wall.

"Edward what the fuck are you doing?" Emmett yelled.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He turned towards me. "What is he doing in here with you?"

I jumped off the counter and ran towards them, trying with all my strength to pry Edward's hands from Emmett's neck.

"Edward stop it!"

"Edward man. You have about two seconds to let go of me before I beat your ass…" Emmett said very calmly and slowly.

Edward's breathing started to slow a little bit as he looked back and forth between me and Emmett. His hands slowly dropped to his sides and he looked down at his feet. "Sorry Em. I just…freaked out a little."

"Yeah I guess so." Emmett started rubbing his throat. "Let me know if you need me Bella." He kissed my forehead and walked out of the room.

Edward sighed deeply and took his baseball cap off, running his fingers through his hair before putting it on again backwards. At least I could see his face now. His stubble was longer than I've ever seen it. He looked like shit. But insanely amazing at the same time. That tight black t-shirt was just….Stop, I thought to myself. Just stop. What the hell is wrong with me?

"What was that?" I said as he sat down on the floor, leaning back against the side of the bathtub.

"I don't know I'm sorry. I've just been a little on edge lately and I just lost it. I saw you guys like that and…I'm sorry I'm just so frustrated right now."

"With me?" I sat down next to him.

He looked towards me and cracked a smile. "No sweetie I'm not frustrated with you. I'm frustrated with the situation."

It felt good to hear him call me that. And it felt good when he smiled at me. But it didn't erase all the anger and the questions I had.

"We need to talk about this Edward."

"I know, I just don't want to. It scares me."

It was tragic to see him that afraid, that vulnerable. But there was no avoiding it. We needed to talk about it.

"I want you to tell me everything. And leave out everything with Emmett, and Jasper, and Rosalie. I know everything about them. Tell me about you. About you and me."

He ran his hands over his face before bringing his legs up towards his chest. He rested his arms loosely over them and laid his head down gently upon them, turning his face towards me.

He looked at me for a long time before answering me. "Okay." He tilted his head back and started talking.

"Charlie came to me right after your partner got killed. Said he knew there was no way you were staying out of the situation now. That you were stubborn." He smiled slightly before continuing on. "Told me I was going in, kind of under the radar. Not many of the higher ups at the office know I'm here. They think I'm on a vacation. There's no way they'd approve of the Chief sending a man in because he's being a paranoid father. He told me to keep an eye on you and to…provoke you a little bit so maybe you'd bow out of the operation. I just didn't think-"

"Wait what?" I interrupted. "Provoke me?" I turned my whole body towards him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Give you a hard time. Distract you a little I guess."

"So was that all we were to you? You were just doing your job? Was I just your fucking job?" I stood up and the tears started overflowing. I knew that Edward had lied to me, but the thought that he was with me just because it was his job was nauseating.

"No Bella it's not like that I swear." He stood up and grabbed me softly by the shoulders.

"It isn't? Why'd you get so jealous when you saw me with Carlisle?" I stared straight into his eyes and I saw them falter. He knew I had him.

"It was part of the act." He whispered painfully. His voice broke slightly. "Charlie thought maybe if you thought I was getting suspicious of you that you'd freak out and bail."

"But I didn't."

"No." He looked up at me, his eyes slightly damp. "You're much stronger than your father thinks you are." His hand lifted up and caressed my cheek. I shook it away.

"I can't believe this. This was all just a joke to you. I mean nothing to you Edward. I'm just a paycheck!" I started to walk out. "And if I was really more than a job, how the hell were you going to explain this to me afterward? How did you honestly expect this to work out?" I opened the door and took a step out.

"Fine!" He yelled. "Just walk away. I may have lied to you about who I was, but I wasn't lying when I told you I loved you, or when we made love for the first time, or when I went into fucking panic mode on that boat because I was terrified that you were going to get hurt. I wasn't lying Bella!"

"It doesn't matter. We're done. And after this job is done, I never want to see you again. Ever." I turned and walked out, slamming the door behind me.

I held in the hysterical sobs until I made it back to my room. Then I started pushing my dresser in front of my door. And then my chair. And my desk. And all my pillows. There was no way he was getting in here tonight. I almost started sliding the bed over when I heard a soft knock on my door. "We're done talking Edward!"

"Bella it's Rose. Can I come in?"

"Oh. Um. Yeah just a second." I started pulling the furniture back. It all sat in a pile in the middle of my room. I opened the door for Rose and let her in.

"Are you redecorating?" She gestured to the heap of furniture.

"No. It's my lock for my door."

She slid onto my bed. "So Emmett told me that you know…about me…about all of us?"

"Yeah."

"And I take it by your new idea of security that you've talked to Edward?"

"Yes." I said through clenched teeth.

"And?"

"And I told him we were through. I can't trust him."

"Bella that man would take a bullet for you. Probably smiling that stupid ass grin of his while he did it too."

"Yeah but why would he do it? Because he loves me or because its part of the job?"

She looked down at her hands. "Bella he loves you. But I understand why you're upset and why you'd question it. To be honest I'd probably do the same thing. And even though I think you two are perfect for each other, I'm on your side. That's girl rule. I'll keep him away from you if that's what you want."

"It's what I want."

"Okay." She slapped my knee softly as she got up off my bed. "Goodnight." She started out the door. "And I would probably put the bed in front of the door too. He can be very persistent if he puts his mind to something. Actually, I'm sleeping in Jasper's room tonight with Alice. You should probably just come down there. I wouldn't want your bed to get hurt when he tries to come in here."

"Good point." I grabbed my pillow and a blanket and followed Rose down the hall.

**A/N: So lots of questions answered in this chapter, so hopefully that covers most of the lingering questions anyone might have. **

**So yes, Bella is being unreasonable and a huge hypocrite, even in my opinion, but if you look at it from her POV how would you see it? In her mind, Edward has played her the whole time. And yes, you could say that she was doing the same thing, but she knows that her love for Edward was real. She's not so sure about the feelings coming from Edward are genuine now. And also in her mind, she feels like what Edward's lying was worse than her lying. She felt like he could have told her that he was a cop because he knew she was one too. She couldn't tell him that she was a cop because she "knew" that he was a criminal. She feels there was no reason why he couldn't tell her. So I definitely feel like she's being really stubborn, but thats all part of her character and how the story is going to play out. So I just wanted to give you an insight into why she's doing what she's doing and what she's thinking. I know she's being dumb haha.**

**Also this should be wrapping up in about 3 chapters or so, so if you're anxious to know what happens you should probably review ; )**


	16. All of Them

"So why are you and Edward fighting?" Alice said as she took a bite of her ice cream. Our impromptu slumber party was in full swing.

Rose gazed in my direction before I answered.

"Um. He just lied to me about…some things." I tried to be as vague as possible. Hopefully she wouldn't ask more questions.

"Like what?"

"Hey Alice how are you feeling?" Rose interjected.

I smiled at Rose and mouthed "thank you."

"I'm starting to do a little better I think." She lay back against the headboard. "I mean my heart still aches everyday, but I've realized something that helps me get up in the morning." She looked up at us and smiled as she ran her fingers over her ring. "Jasper wouldn't want me living like this. He'd want me to move on and be happy. And I will. And I'll love him and miss him for the rest of my life."

Rose and I both reached out and took Alice's hands. She pulled us in for a hug and we sat for a moment, holding each other.

"So enough about me. Tell me more about your little tiff with Edward."

I sighed heavily. "Oh Alice I really don't want to talk about it."

"Too bad." She handed me her tub of ice cream. "Spill."

I looked at Rose and shrugged.

"He just wasn't who I thought he was." I took a large bite and thought through everything as the delicious cookie dough melted in my mouth. "You know you think you know someone. And you don't. And you think you can trust this person with everything that you have and then they go and shit on your parade. I mean how am I supposed to be with someone who doesn't let me in all the way? I can't handle that. Why do guys have to be such assholes?" I threw the spoon in the tub with a loud groan. I realized Rose and Alice were staring at me with their mouths gaping. "Sorry. You told me to spill. I spilled."

"Emmett always leaves his dirty boxers on the floor," Rose started. "Annoys the shit out of me." She took the tub of ice cream. "And you know the worst thing. When I ask him if they're clean or dirty, he sniffs them to check. Sniffs them! Disgusting."

We both turned towards Alice. "Don't worry Al. You're immune from this conversation."

"No it's okay." She smiled in thought. "Jasper always used to take a drink right out of the milk jug and spit it out in the sink when it was sour. Then for no other reason than to mess with Edward and Emmett, he'd put it right back in the fridge. A few days later, I'd be the one who got the sour milk, not those idiots. Made me want to punch him in the nuts."

"Nice." I nodded. "Okay we still need to decide on a movie….we've got Sixteen Candles, Top Gun, Legally Blonde and….30 Days of Night?"

"Those first three are technically love stories right?" Alice asked.

"Uhh…yeah I guess so."

"I'm with the vampires," Alice said.

"Me too. Bring on the violence and gore." Rose took the last bite of ice cream and set the tub on the nightstand.

I fell asleep draped across Alice's lap listening to her and Rose discuss the many ways to technically kill a vampire.

In the morning I was still on Alice's lap. She was slumped over with her head resting on Rosalie's lower back. Rosalie was laying face down across my legs. I had no feeling from the knee down.

"Rose get your fat ass off of my legs, you broke them." I laughed.

She sat up slowly and all the blood began rushing down to the bottom half of my legs. Her hair was sticking out in all directions. "Shut up bitch. Maybe I wouldn't have slept on them if you hadn't taken up the whole fucking bed."

"Good morning." Alice stretched her arms above her. I would let it go that she was this chipper at this time in the morning because in all honesty I was just happy to see her almost back to normal again. Any other time I would have wanted to strangle her. Morning people make me sick.

Emmett knocked on the door and peeked his head in. "Sorry guys. Can I talk to Bella and Rose for a second?"

"Yeah sure." We took a few minutes to untangle ourselves from each other and Rose and I headed to the hallway.

Emmett gestured us into his bathroom, where Edward was waiting. I didn't look at him.

"We were just contacted by Carlisle. It must be something important if he's willing to communicate to us. Wants us to meet him at an abandoned house on Walker Avenue right away." Edward crossed his arms in front of him and kept his eyes on the ground.

"Okay then let's go," Rose said.

She grabbed Emmett's arm and started out the door.

"I'll go tell Alice we're going to get something to eat," I murmured.

When I walked back into Jasper's room Alice was actually humming while she stood in his closet.

"Al? What are you doing?"

She sighed and turned to face me. "I guess I should probably start cleaning some of his stuff out of the closet. Oprah says it's part of the healing process, you know. Packing up their things."

"Oh okay. I'll leave you alone then. We're going to go get something to eat so we'll be gone for a little bit."

"Okay. Bring me back something good." She smiled slightly and reached for one of Jasper's shirts.

"Okay I'm ready." I announced as I walked into the living room.

"Where are you guys going?" Demetri said, peeking his head out from behind the refrigerator door.

"Oh. We're going to get something to eat."

"Alright. See you guys later." He went back to searching for leftovers.

Emmett, Rose and Edward left the penthouse but I hung behind for a moment.

"Hey Demetri?"

"Yeah."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure dollface."

"Just…keep an eye on Alice while we're gone. She hasn't really been alone since it happened."

"Of course. I'll make her a sandwich or something."

"Thanks." I smiled and followed the others out.

We took the subway and walked the rest of the way to the house. It was run down and dark and I could see why Carlisle would pick this place to meet. There'd be no reason for anyone to go in there.

"Dad?" Emmett said as he pushed the door open.

"I'm in here," Carlisle called.

We followed his voice into a large living room, complete with a moth eaten couch and a single light bulb hanging on a chain from the ceiling.

"Are you certain you weren't followed?" He glanced out the mostly boarded up window.

"Yeah. We took the subway. Told them we were going out to eat," Edward said.

"Okay make sure to stop and get something so they won't be suspicious." Carlisle folded his hands in front of him. "I'll start with the good news. Jasper is out of the hospital and back in the city. He'll be working on the case from behind the scenes now and is recovering fairly well."

A sigh of relief escaped my lips. Jasper was okay. Thank God.

"Now on a more serious note. We've received some information from our sources that Aro has something planned for tonight. A sampling of sorts. According to our source he's invited some of his major buyers in to test the merchandise that he received from the Denalis before your visit to Miami. We're not sure exactly when this is going down, but keep your ears and eyes open. We're ending this tonight."

"Okay what do you want us to do?" Rose said.

"I don't want you to do anything Rose. Just keep on doing what you're doing. I don't know if Aro will call for you tonight, but if he does and you see something about to go down, call in to us. We'll be set up outside later tonight."

He turned towards the rest of us.

"You guys will probably know more about it than Rose will. I assume Aro will brief you all on the situation this afternoon so if there's any vital information we need to know, get it to us. We need to make this as smooth as possible. No mistakes." He looked me directly in the eye. I knew what he meant by that. We'd almost had them last time and it all got lost because of my stupid freak out. If we hadn't crashed the car, they could all be in jail right now.

"Edward I'm giving you the panic button. We're not going to risk wiring any of you. As long as we catch them in the act it should be sufficient. As soon as enough of the buyers are in there and you have a visual of the drugs, push it. We'll be in there in thirty seconds to take each one of them in."

Edward reached out and took the small device from Carlisle just as my phone started vibrating in my pocket.

"Alice," I answered. "What's up we're just sitting waiting for our check. The waiter is taking forever."

"Demetri is taking me to see Aro. Apparently he wants to talk with each of us about something today. Demetri said that you're next so be at the warehouse in a half hour. Edward is to come in an hour"

"Okay Al. I'll be there. See you soon." I flipped my phone closed. "You were right about Aro talking to each of us about it. Alice is headed there now and I have to be there in a half hour. I'd better get going if I'm going to make it in time. Fill me in on the rest later. Edward you're supposed to go in an hour." I picked up my bag and headed out the door.

I arrived at the warehouse with ten minutes to spare, but walked inside anyway. My breath caught in my throat as soon as the door closed behind me. The room was completely dark. It gave me an eerie feeling. Something wasn't right. I felt along the cold wall for a light switch. I finally found it and switched it on. One single light turned on above me, only illuminating the middle part of the room. Everything else was hidden in the shadows. I could barely make out the outline of several large crates surrounding the perimeter of the area. The only other source of light was the soft glow from Aro's office.

"Hello?" I called into the darkness as I took a step forward. My foot caught on something and I tumbled to the ground. "Dammit!" I whispered, brushing my hands off. I looked back to see what I had tripped over. I froze. It was a tiny leg wrapped up in expensive designer jeans. I gasped as my hand flew up over my mouth. I squinted in the darkness, trying to distinguish her shape.

"Alice?" I whispered. I crawled forward.

"Bella," she cried silently. She pulled me into the shadows. I could barely see her face now, slightly illuminated by the light. Blood was dripping from the cut on her cheek. Her lip was puffy and her eyes were damp with tears. She was leaning up against one of the crates, with one of her legs pulled up to her chest. "I twisted my ankle trying to run away. I don't know if I can walk on it," she whispered.

"Alice what happened?" I started caressing her face, assessing the damage.

"They're dead." She cried.

"Who?"

She looked me straight in the eye and sniffed. "All of them."

**A/N: So sorry that was a semi short chapter. It was more of just a transition, to set up for the next chapter, which is going to be fucking awesome if I don't say so myself. All the shit is going down next chapter so it should be a good one. Also I'm going to try and get the last few chapters up soon. I'm going to keep writing tonight and see how much I can get done.**


	17. Payback

**A/N: Okay sorry for posting all these chapters so quickly. If you want to prolong the experience wait until tomorrow to read this one, but I'll warn you it's good. Which is part of the reason I posted it tonight. I absolutely loved how it turned out so I hope you guys do too. I guess I'm just terrible at making you guys wait stuff out. ; ) Review Review Review**

"What are you talking about?"

"Aro, the brothers…" She peered over my shoulder. "It was Demetri Bella. He was behind the whole thing."

"Demetri?" My knees buckled in shock and I fell back on the ground.

"He brought me here and told me to stay outside at first, but I got bored of waiting so I walked in. I heard…voices. Up in Aro's office. They were arguing. I heard the shot just as I was opening the door. Demetri was standing over Aro's body. I screamed and started to run back down the stairs but Demetri must have switched off the master power. Everything went dark and I tripped and fell down the rest of the stairs." She started crying. "Bella I could hear him coming down the stairs to get me, but I couldn't walk. I tried. I just couldn't. I pulled myself over here and hid behind the crate."

"Alice?" Demetri's voice taunted. It echoed through the warehouse. "Where are you Alice?"

"Oh God." Alice looked at me with absolute terror in her eyes. "Bella you have to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you. Stay here and stay quiet until I get him upstairs. Then I want you to get out of here. Walk, crawl, pull yourself. I don't care how you do it just do it." I got up and started walking towards the lit part of the room.

"Bella no." Alice whispered.

"It's not Alice Demetri, it's Bella. What the hell happened to all the power?" I laughed so he wouldn't be suspicious. "Did Alice already leave I didn't see her?"

There was a movement in the shadows in front of me. He finally stepped into the light.

"She must have." He smiled. "I don't know what happened to the lights, I've been tinkering with the fuse box for the last fifteen minutes. She must have taken off."

"She said Aro wanted to see me?" I started towards the stairs.

"Oh yeah. Go on up." I took my time going up the stairs, not wanting to seem too eager or anxious. Demetri followed too closely behind me.

"How has your day been so far?" I asked, tilting my head back in his direction.

"Excellent." He smiled a menacing smile.

I had no clue what I was doing or how I was going to figure this out. I just had to get Alice out somehow.

I took a deep breath before opening the door. I knew what I was going to find, but that didn't make me any more prepared to see it. Aro's chair was turned with its back to me. His arms rested on the sides just like any other time he'd sat there. I knew I had to play along.

"Aro you wanted to see me?" I called out. Of course there was no response. "Aro?" I inched towards his chair. My hand reached out and slowly spun the chair around. I gasped as Aro's lifeless eyes looked back at me. There was a single bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. I didn't look back at Demetri. I needed time to compose myself. I needed a moment to come up with a plan.

"Did you do this?" I said slowly.

"Yep," he said. Cocky bastard. I heard him cock his gun. I had to do something or I was going to end up just like Aro.

I quickly grabbed Aro's shoulders and pushed his body to the ground before sitting myself down in his chair and putting my feet up on his desk.

"About time somebody put that asshole in his place." I put my hands behind my head and smiled at Demetri, who was fully confused at this point. "Whatever you're pulling I'm in." I rocked side to side in the chair.

"You're fucking with me." He cocked his head to the side.

"Am I?" I stood up and unbuttoned the first button on my shirt. And then another. I walked around to the front of Aro's desk and slid onto the edge. My shirt was completely unbuttoned now. I motioned Demetri forward with my finger. Thank God he's horny. He smiled slightly and inched towards me.

My hands reached out for him as soon as he was within reach and pulled him towards me. His face was only inches from mine. I ran my finger up the middle of his chest and to his chin. "What can I do to prove myself to you?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He reached his hand behind my head, firmly grasped my hair and pulled my face to his.

Act Bella. You're putting on an act. You better make it believable. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he continued moving his lips against mine.

"I wanted this for so long." His lips traveled down my neck.

"I know me too." I tried to pull him closer.

His hand slid up my shirt and around to my back, trying to unclasp my bra.

Think Bella. Think.

"Baby," I whispered into his ear. "We should probably save that for later. We have some business to take care of." I kissed his neck and then his lips again. "Now tell me everything." I leaned back on my elbows.

"I was just getting so sick of these stupid pricks acting like they're fucking kings. They think they run everything, but its over now. I run everything." He gestured to himself. "I do."

"We do." I smiled.

"Right. We do. And by the way I'm sorry about the whole boat thing babe, I thought you were one of them."

"You were behind that?" I tried to hide the look of shock on my face.

"Yeah. And the whole thing at the docks too. With some of the Denali crew. I paid them off to start a turf war. I didn't want to get my hands dirty. I knew it would get blamed on Tanya and her family and I was kind of just hoping they would wipe each other out. But unfortunately things didn't go quite my way. I guess if you want something done right you have to do it yourself." He started loading more bullets into his gun.

All of the lights out in the warehouse flicked on suddenly.

"Bella?" Edward's voice called out. I panicked for a second before putting myself back into character. Demetri's going to kill Edward.

"What are we going to do about him?" I nodded my head towards the doorway.

"Go down there and keep him occupied. I'll be down in a second."

I nodded and walked towards the door.

Edward's eyes were fixed at a point below me that I could see. And they were absolutely filled with terror.

"Edward. I'm up here."

He kept his eyes fixed on whatever he was looking at while I started to descend down the stairs.

"Bella I want you to walk directly to me. Do not look behind you or to the side of you. Just look right at me okay?" He finally looked at me. He was scared. Truly and genuinely scared. I could see it in his eyes. But he should have known that I wasn't going to listen. As soon as I stepped on solid ground I turned and looked behind me.

"Oh my God…" I whispered. The same dining room table we'd eaten at before sat in the shadows beneath the catwalk above. Cauis and Marcus sat at both heads of the table. Every other seat was occupied by any and all associates of the Volturi that I'd ever met in my life. And they were all dead. Just like Aro.

I heard Demetri step onto the stairs above me. He was laughing.

"So glad you could join the party Edward." He spun the bullet chamber of his gun.

"Bella get behind me," Edward said as he looked up at Demetri. I followed his direction, but smiled up at Demetri as soon as I was behind him. I was still putting on an act.

"I swear to God if you hurt one hair on her head I will kill you," Edward threatened.

"Why would I hurt her? Come here baby…" He grinned in my direction.

I'm sorry Edward. He's going to think I betrayed them. But I was really trying to save them.

I sneered and walked confidently towards Demetri. He wrapped his arm around my waist and roamed south. I had to clench my fists to avoid punching his lights out.

"I want you to do it," he whispered in my ear. He handed me a gun.

"What?" I looked up into his eyes for answers.

"I want you to do it." He bit his lip and motioned towards Edward and started circling around me. "I know I don't know everything that goes on in that penthouse but I know that he did something to piss you off Bella. Now you can teach him a lesson." He grabbed a lock of my hair and twirled it in his fingers. "And if you really want to prove your loyalty…"

I raised the gun in front of me and pointed it straight at Edward. His eyes flitted back and forth between mine and the gun. He raised his hands above him.

I had to hold in the tears. I don't think I can do this.

Demetri set his chin on my shoulder. "My best advice? Go for the stomach. It makes them suffer longer…" The image of Jake lying under that white sheet flashed back into my head. Bleeding from the stomach. My breathing started to increase with each passing moment. Emmett was right. Demetri killed Jake. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and put a bullet in him. Make him pay for what he did to Jake and me. But I didn't.

I finally forced my eyes to look at Edward. He was surprisingly calm. Not scared. Like he understood why I was doing this. Like he knew it was all an act.

"Do it Bella…" Edward whispered, looking me dead in the eye. "Do it." His voice broke.

I closed my eyes and the tears started running down my face. I couldn't hold them in anymore. When I opened them again, Edward had dropped to his knees.

"Bella I love you. Just do it." He nodded.

My finger started to tighten around the trigger and a shot went off. Edward fell to the ground. I looked beside me and saw the smoke coming from the barrel of Demetri's gun. He was smiling. "Remember what I said before Bella. If you want a job done right you have to do it yourself."

I whipped back towards Edward's body and ran to him. I dropped to my knees beside him and shook him. His eyes were closed.

"Edward?" I whispered, my eyes searching for any sign of life. "Edward?" I shook harder. Totally lifeless.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted you dumb bitch."

I turned my body towards Demetri. He turned his gun towards me.

"I guess you two can be together now." He cocked his gun back. I heard two shots but I didn't feel the bullet, I felt something grab me around the waist and fling me to the ground. I looked towards Demetri. He fell to the ground clutching his knee. His gun flew out of his hand and landed close to me. I finally looked above me to see who my savior was.

"Are you okay?" Edward said, caressing my cheek.

"I can't breathe," I said slowly.

"Why?" He started looking frantically down my body for any sign of injury.

"Because you're laying on top of me."

"Oh." He pushed himself up so he was hovering over me. "Sorry."

I pulled myself up as he sat on the ground beside me.

"How…?" I looked up and down his chest, looking for blood or anything from where Demetri shot him. There was nothing.

He lifted his shirt up. "Good thing Carlisle keeps a spare bullet proof vest in his car. I would have been bumming." The white vest had a small disturbance in the middle of Edward's chest, just to the side of his badge, which was dangling on a chain. All I wanted to do in that moment was pull his face to mine and tell him how sorry I was.

"You shot me you son of a bitch…" Demetri choked out. He started crawling towards the gun. I stood up and kicked it far away, out of his reach.

"How long do we have before they all get here?" I turned back to Edward.

"At least ten minutes. We got a call that a woman reported hearing shots from the warehouse so we tried to get here as soon as we could because we knew something was wrong. There was this huge fucking traffic jam and we couldn't get through. So I got out of the car and ran here. They should be here soon."

"Can I have a few moments?" I nodded towards Demetri.

"Yeah sure." He started to get up. I rushed over to help him. He winced when I grabbed at his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I looked down and noticed the bit of blood that stained his shirt.

"Nothing. I think I just scraped it on the concrete." He smiled a little bit. "I'll be outside."

I watched him walk out and close the door before I turned back towards Demetri.

I pulled the picture from my pants pocket. The one that Charlie would bitch me out about if he knew that I had it on me. The one I'd managed to hide from Edward and everyone else. The one who held the whole reason I was here.

"Do you remember him?" I held Jake's picture out to Demetri. He didn't answer. "Do you remember him?" I said again. I kicked Demetri in the ribs. "This was my partner Jake. He was my best friend and you killed him like he was trash, just something to be disposed of." I kicked him again. "Look at him!" I held the picture right up to his face. He spit at it. I slammed my fist into his mouth.

"What are you gonna do…kill me?" He smiled a bloody smile and spit out a tooth.

"No." I stood up just as Carlisle opened the door and ran into with about ten other agents. "I'm going to let you rot in jail where you belong." I turned and walked past Carlisle and out the door.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I stepped out into the fresh air. There were swarms of police cars and ambulances. Alice sitting in the back of an open police car with a medic looking at her. Rose was by her side. Another dark car pulled up to the scene. Emmett got out of the drivers side and rushed up to me.

"Bella are you okay?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't take my eyes away from what was going on behind him. Jasper stepped slowly out of the car, sporting a sling and some bruises around his face still. He put his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun as he searched the parking lot. I knew who he was looking for. I turned my head towards Alice, who was talking animatedly to Rose, obviously telling her everything that had happened.

Rose saw him first. She smiled at Alice and nodded in Jasper's direction. Alice's head turned slowly and her mouth fell open. She stood from the car, letting her blanket fall to the ground. She fell to her knees for a brief moment before standing back up and limping towards Jasper. He smiled when he saw her and opened his arms, despite his sling. She jumped into his arms, sobbing hysterically. Her lips grazed every part of his skin that she could see.

"I guess happy endings do exist…" Rose laughed and nudged my ribs with her elbow.

"I guess so." I smiled. "Rose where's Edward? I need to talk to him."

"Last I saw he was getting the bullet taken out of his shoulder in the back of that ambulance." She pointed to an ambulance across the parking lot.

"What?"

"I told you that man would take a bullet for you." She winked and walked away.

My feet started moving before my brain could catch up. I couldn't get to that ambulance soon enough.

"Edward?" I said smiling as I rounded the corner. There was nobody there except a medic. "Excuse me? Where is the man who you were treating?"

"He took off about five minutes ago in a cab."

My heart sank. He's gone.

I tried to call his phone multiple times a day in the two weeks following the pinch. I finally got a message saying the number had been disconnected. Everytime I called him at the precinct they said he was out on a case or he wasn't in that day. I was getting frustrated. I had to talk to him and apologize. And tell him how stupid I was being and that I loved him and wanted to be with him. More than anything.

"Fine," I said to myself after I'd been told for the millionth time that Edward was in the bathroom, "I'll just go see about that myself." I mean how many bathroom breaks can a guy take.

When I got to the precinct, Emmett was there sitting across from an empty desk.

"Where is he Emmett?"

"He's not here."

I pointed an angry finger at him. "I'll deal with you later."

I stomped into my dad's office. "Where is he Charlie?" I was at my breaking point. The tears were starting to well up in my eyes.

"He is no longer with this precinct." His eyes didn't move from the paperwork he was working on. I snatched it away from underneath him.

"Why the hell not?"

He looked up at me from underneath his glasses. "You better watch it young lady, I'm the one in charge here."

"Dad stop avoiding the question, why isn't he here?" I crossed my arms in front of me.

"Because I asked him to leave."

"You fired him?! Why?" I threw his paperwork in the air in frustration.

"Because he got too involved with his last assignment."

"He got fired because he fell in love with me? I thought that was the plan Dad, you know, to distract me wasn't it?"

"Bella I'm sorry about that. I was wrong. I realize now that you are more than capable of handling yourself in situations like that. But Officer Cullen crossed a line. Pretending to be in love with you wasn't part of the deal."

"He wasn't pretending Dad."

"Bella just let this go okay?" He got up and started picking up his paperwork. "Carlisle said your last day at work was last week. I have a proposition for you. Take a seat."

"I'll stand."

"I know I haven't been supportive of you in the past, but I want to change. I would be honored to offer you a position in this department as a Detective."

"I can't believe you're serious right now. No." I turned and left his office.

"Give me his new number Emmett. I need to talk to him."

"He told me not to give it to you Bella."

"What?"

"He said that he didn't want to hurt you anymore. That he was letting you go. I'm sorry."

I slumped down in his chair.

He was letting us go and I was fighting tooth and nail to hang on. I guess it wasn't worth the fight anymore. He was gone and didn't want to be found. It would be like he never existed.

**A/N: Only one more chapter to go guys....its all wrapping up : (**


	18. Partners

**A/N: Last chapter : ( BUT it turned out really really well and I love it : ) So I hope you enjoy it.**

"Alice I'm sorry I don't know if I can do this. I'm freaking out here and I haven't even seen him yet." I was pacing back and forth in front of the window of my apartment. "I mean it's been what….four months since I've seen him. He hasn't tried to contact me once and then I'm just going to go hang out with him like nothing's happened."

"Bella you're the maid of honor you can't back out on me. It's against the best friend rules. And you have the rehearsal dinner tonight as a warm up before the wedding tomorrow. It'll be fine."

I bit on my nail nervously.

"But I mean what if he won't talk to me…God Alice what if he won't even look at me. I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack." I sat down on my chair, my leg bouncing up and down. I shouldn't be this nervous to see him, but I couldn't help it. It was Edward. How could I not be nervous?

"Listen to me Bella. I'm the bride, which means I call the shots. You're walking down that aisle with me tomorrow even if I have to drag you down there." I could just imagine the smile across her face as she spoke.

"Okay fine, but this rehearsal tonight is totally unnecessary. I mean how complicated can it be to walk down an aisle. You'll be the one in white dress and Jasper will be the one in the white tux. Standing next to Edward." I gulped hard. Breathe Bella.

Alice breathed deeply. "Okay. I will let it slide if you can't make it to the rehearsal tonight. But I swear to God if you mess up tomorrow I will kill you," she said sternly. "But if you change your mind you should come tonight because I miss you." Her perky voice was a sharp contrast to her previous tone.

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises," I grumbled.

"Okay I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye." I threw the phone on my couch and slumped down in the chair. The wedding invitation on the table in front of me felt like it was calling my name. It was unavoidable. Like the fucking plague.

I tapped my finger against my temple. It was only 2 o'clock; I still had three hours before I'd have to leave to make it to the rehearsal dinner. I had time to decide.

As four-thirty rolled around, I realized I hadn't moved an inch. I was still in the same chair, staring at the same wedding invitation, tapping my same temple.

"I'm being really stupid," I whispered to myself. "I can do this." I glanced up at the clock and ran into the bathroom to get ready. I was walking out the door at 5:10, after I'd changed my outfit five times and redone my makeup so much that my trash basket was overflowing with cotton swabs.

As the cab pulled up to the restaurant I froze. Panic started to set in again.

"Miss?" The cab driver said.

"Yeah just give me a second…" I said in a daze. Was he here already? I finally came up with enough courage to touch the door handle, but pulled my hand back quickly when a loud motorcycle rushed by the cab and came to a stop in front of us.

"Oh. My. God." I said slowly. I watched as the man on the motorcycle slowly pulled his helmet off, shaking his shaggy bronze hair free.

"Oh my God!" I ducked frantically behind the seat, praying he wouldn't see me.

The cabbie stuck his head out the window. "Hey buddy you can't park there!"

I lifted my head slightly and tried to peek through the cracks of the seats.

"I'm a cop man. Tow me." Edward smiled a crooked smile. Shit he looked good. Damnit.

My breath caught in my throat because I could have sworn that he looked right at me. Like he could see me trying to hide from him behind this crappy old cab seat. He smiled again, still looking in my direction and started towards the restaurant.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"You know that guy?" The cab driver said, gesturing towards the door.

"I guess you could say that." I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. There was no way I was going in now. I couldn't think a cohesive thought, let alone put one foot in front of the other to walk.

"So what's it going to be miss?"

"I'm sorry…can you take me back to my place please?"

The cab driver was just about to pull away when someone tapped on window. I sat still for a few moments, trying to decide if I was imagining or if that was really Edward tapping on the glass.

"You want me to get that?" The cabbie asked.

All I could manage was a squeak.

"I'll take that as a yes."

The window slowly rolled down to reveal his perfectly tan, stubble ridden face only inches from mine.

"Hello Bella." His voice was just as velvety smooth as I'd remembered it.

"Umm…I." I looked down at my hands. "Um."

"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to talk to you before the wedding and let you know that it won't be awkward or anything. I'm over you and I think we can be friends now. Like it should have been. You won't have to deal with some crazy obsessive person or anything. It's done." He smiled a genuinely heartwarming smile. But my heart was breaking. He was over me. It was over.

"I…I have to go home now." I turned away from Edward and started straight ahead, waiting for the cab to take me away from this hell. Edward held his hand in front of the cab, a fifty-dollar bill in between his fingers.

That back stabbing cab driver rolled down the front window and Edward leaned in. "This should cover her cab ride here and back and all that time she was sitting here."

"Thanks man." The cabbie took the money and Edward leaned back out of the car and turned away.

"He your boyfriend?" I barely heard the driver speak. There were too many thoughts running through my head. I was so stupid to think that he still loved me after all these months. I think a part of me honestly thought that we'd see each other and instantly everything would be right again in the world. We would be right again. He just smashed that fantasy into a million pieces.

"Um. No. Not anymore." I shook my head.

"So you're single?" He glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

A tear started escaping down my cheek.

"Oh don't cry. I meant that in a good way. I was going to ask you out." He flashed a smile as he pulled up in front of my apartment. I smiled at him. He had to have been almost 80. Cutest old man I've ever seen. But he looked like my Grandpa and I'm no Anna Nicole.

"Sir. I'm a little emotionally retarded right now. I don't think you'd want to go out with me."

"Is it because of that schmuck back there?"

"Yeah." I cried. I started sobbing.

"Sweetheart. If he doesn't want you, he's a crazy bastard. You're a doll."

"Thanks." I smiled and wiped the tears away from my face and stepped out of the cab.

My phone rang at about ten o'clock; right about the time the rehearsal dinner would be finishing up.

"Hey Alice."

"Did you even attempt to come?" She sounded slightly annoyed, but not pissed.

"I was there, I just never made it out of the cab."

"Why not?"

"Because Edward just had to breeze on by in his super sexy motorcycle right as I was getting out. And then he proceeded to tell me that he was over me and that he wanted to be friends. So I'm sorry I tried. But I couldn't."

"Well gold star for effort my friend. You want me to come over? Have one last girls night before I'm a married woman?"

"Alice you don't have to do that. It's the night before your wedding. Don't you want to relax or something?"

"Honey there's no other place I'd rather be than hanging out with you. I'll call Rose."

An hour later we were watching chick flicks and eating a packet of cookie dough.

"That's all he said?" Rose took a bite of dough.

"Yep."

"He goes on some random ass emo road trip by himself for four months and then he comes back and that's all he has to say to you?" She took another bite.

"Yep."

"Bastard," she whispered.

"Well Bella," Alice said. She sounded like a therapist. "How do you feel about this development in the Bella and Edward saga?"

"Confused. Hurt. Sad. I don't know." I shook my head and tried to concentrate on Patrick Dempsey on the screen in the background.

"So does that mean you still love him?"

"Of course I love him. But that obviously doesn't matter anymore since he's moved on. He's moved on…" A terrifying thought suddenly dawned on me. "Alice is he bringing…a date tomorrow?"

"Not that I know of. There hasn't been anyone since you."

Phew. I wasn't sure if I could deal with Edward alone, but Edward with a date was a completely different story. They might as well carry me out on a stretcher.

"Well just get him back. Simple as pie."

"Is not!" I threw some cookie dough at her. It stuck in her hair.

"No assaulting the bride!" She threw her hands up.

"Okay fine. Speaking of that, we should go to bed, we have to get up in six hours to go get our hair done." I turned and flipped the light off before settling into my bed. Rose was snuggled up in my Lazy Boy and Alice was curled up at the bottom of my bed. I told them they could sleep on the pull away couch in my living room. But they insisted. I was lucky to have them as friends.

I was in a daze the entire next morning, while the hair stylist was pulling and prodding at my head trying to get my hair to look decent. Before I knew it, the ceremony was a mere thirty minutes away and Alice asked for some alone time before the ceremony. I walked outside and found a small pond, with tons of white swans floating around in it. I was kind of glad she decided to get married outside the city. It was nice to escape the noise for a while.

"Look at all the beautiful swans!" Emmett said sarcastically.

I turned to face him. He was already dressed in his tux. I pulled him in for a hug.

"Thanks Em. Do I really look alright?" I felt down my navy blue dress.

"Absolutely beautiful."

I sighed deeply. "Have you talked to him?"

"Yeah. Said he talked to you yesterday." He shuffled his feet back and forth.

I laughed. "Yeah he talked. I mumbled."

"Caught you by surprise huh?"

"What?" I looked up at him and smiled.

"How much you still love him."

I looked down again. "Yeah I guess. But it's okay. That's life. It's tough sometimes. But I'm glad he's happy."

Emmett smiled for a moment and then reached behind him. "I almost forgot. This is for you." He pulled a white lily out and presented it to me.

"Wow that's beautiful, thank you."

"Don't thank me, it was nothing." He took a step forward and placed the flower in my hair, right behind my ear. "But we should probably get back, I think we're on in about ten."

"Okay." Emmett offered his arm to me and we walked back towards the place. He kissed my cheek and went to go line up.

Alice was primped and ready to go early, of course. She was so in control of everything, even though four months ago she thought this day would never happen.

"You ready Al?"

"I was born ready to marry this man. Let's get on with it!" She smiled and walked with Rose and I down to our spots. The music started and Rose stepped out in front of me, the curtain closing behind her.

"I love you Bella."

"Love you too Alice. Let's get you married." The curtains opened again and it was my turn. I stepped out into the sunlight. My eyes squinted at first into the blinding light. As they adjusted, I surveyed the faces in the crowd. I didn't know most of them. I saw Carlisle and his wife Esme. And Charlie was here too. I finally looked up at the altar. There he was. Standing directly beside Jasper with a wide grin on his face. And he was looking right at me like it was our wedding day. I felt selfish for pretending that it was for that moment.

I maintained eye contact with him as I came to my place and turned to wait for Alice. I heard the crowd stand and the music change, so I forced my eyes away from his and shifted them towards the aisle, where Alice was starting to make her walk. I smiled at her and looked over at Jasper. I've never seen that look on anyone's face before. A look of pure adoration, of pure love. Until I looked at Edward again. Was I imagining this? Was it all in my head? Edward looked at me just like he did when we were us. Before everything went to shit. When it was just us. And right then it was again. Just us.

"Alice, would you like to say your vows?" The minister said.

Alice took a deep breath and began.

"Jasper. I never knew this kind of love even existed in this world. And you've shown me that it does. I could never explain to you how much you mean to me and how much our life together means to me, but I'll spend the rest of my life trying to." She giggled and slipped the ring on Jasper's finger.

"Jasper, would you like to say your vows?" The minister turned towards him.

"Actually sir, I'm just going to say ditto because I can't wait another minute to be married to this woman."

The crowd broke out in laughter, even the minister. "Well then I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss your bride."

Alice squealed and jumped up into Jasper's arms. He twirled her around as they kissed, in what only could be described as the most perfect wedding kiss.

The music started playing and down the aisle they went. An arm was offered to me and I absentmindedly took it. I realized half way down the aisle whose arm I was attached to.

"Are you going to say more than umm this time?" Edward said.

"I don't know."

He laughed. "Fair enough."

He released me when we made it to the end of the aisle and disappeared. In fact I didn't even see him again until the reception. Emmett either. I wonder what they were up to.

"May I have this dance?" Charlie said, offering his hand to me and pulling me out on the dance floor.

"How are you doing Dad?" I smiled at him as he twirled me around.

My relationship with my dad was still a little strained, but it was definitely better.

"I'd be doing a lot better if you'd reconsider my job offer? You really want to be working at Starbucks for the rest of your life?"

"Dad not here. I'll find another job on my own. Just leave it alone."

"Okay fine."

The music changed to a song that sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I looked towards the band that was performing in an attempt to figure out what the hell it was.

"Hey Charlie can I cut in?" I closed my eyes as Edward tapped Charlie's shoulder.

Charlie bent down to my ear. "You alright sweetheart?"

"Yeah."

"Okay Edward. She's all yours. I still owe the bride a dance." He smiled and searched the dance floor for Alice.

"I asked them to play our song…" Edward winked at me.

"What?"

"Dirty Diana," he said quietly.

"Oh. Oh!" I gasped, finally recognizing the slower version. "I knew that it sounded familiar."

"Yeah." He looked down at his feet.

"So how have you been Edward?" I attempted to make small talk. This is what friends did right?

"Um. Good I guess. I went on the road for a few months. Sold my car, bought my motorcycle."

"Yeah I saw that." I smiled.

"I'll have to take you for a ride sometime…"

I stopped dancing and stared at him. Why was he doing this? Acting so…incredibly sweet. It wasn't doing my heart any good.

"What's wrong?" Edward said, his face full of concern.

"Nothing…" I looked down at the ground. I knew the tears would start flowing if I looked up into his eyes again.

I felt his finger slip under my chin and tilt my face up. Uh oh. Bad news. I couldn't stop them now. The tears were streaming down. I turned away and hurried off the dance floor, leaving Edward alone and confused.

I ran into the dark dressing room and curled up in the corner, pulling my knees to my chest. I wasn't strong enough for this.

There was a knock on the door. I tried to control my sobs.

"Bella it's me," Edward said.

"Go away," I whispered.

He came in anyway of course.

"What did I do?" He said, crouching down to my level.

"You're being you Edward. Why are you being so nice to me?"

He tilted his head to the side. "I'm…sorry. I wasn't…" He shook his head, struggling with what to say. His hand reached out and caressed my cheek. "I wouldn't want to do anything to hurt you." His eyes stared into mine. "Not anything." He looked down at my lips and his face started to inch forward. His lips only touched mine for an instant before I stood up and forced myself passed him.

"This isn't okay Edward!" I gestured to the air between us. "I thought you were over me? Why are you doing this?"

He shook his head and looked down at the floor. And then he smiled. He fucking smiled. Why was he smiling right now?

"Come and take a ride with me?" He held out his hand.

"No!" I stomped my foot.

"Please."

"Why?!"

"Because I asked you to."

"Well…just…fine!" I crossed my arms and stomped out of the room.

I went right out to the parking lot and easily found his motorcycle. It took him a few more minutes to get out there. By that time I was stomping my foot up and down.

"A little impatient are we?" He smiled slightly. It made my heart beat faster. Traitor heart.

"Why are you so calm right now?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because we're fighting!"

"Are we?" He laughed and titled his head to the side as he picked up his helmet. "Put this on." He threw it at me.

I pushed it on my head as he climbed on the motorcycle and kicked his foot down to start it. I involuntarily licked my lips. How can he still do this to me when I'm mad at him?

"Get on." He nodded to the back of the bike.

I climbed on and wrapped my arms around his waist. It felt good to hold him close again, if it wasn't going to last.

We drove for a few miles and came up to a small clearing. It was the edge of a rocky cliff, overlooking a deep valley below. I stepped off the bike and bent down to pick a few purple wildflowers that were scattered along the roadside.

"Bella I lied." I heard him take a step behind me.

I stood up and turned around. The wind blew a few stray strands of hair around my face. "About what?"

"I'm not over you." He took another step. "I'm still in love with you." Another. "And I'm sorry." He was right in front of me now. He wrapped his arms slowly around my waist. "I want to be with you."

I searched his eyes for something, anything that could tell me if his emotions were true.

"I..." His lips interrupted me as they crushed against mine. I lost control of all thought, all feeling except for him. My arms reached up around his neck and I knew he was telling the truth.

He pulled back, set his forehead against mine, and reached in my hair to grab the lily that Emmett gave me. "And I gave you this. Emmett was just the delivery boy. I didn't know if you wanted to see me or not."

I smiled and pulled his face back to mine. Right back where it belonged.

"So we have one small apartment, no money, and no jobs. What do we do now?" Edward said.

My head went back in laughter. "I think I have an idea…"

**Epilogue**

We both sat outside my Dad's office, legs and arms crossed, waiting very patiently. Emmett kept sneaking glances over at us and laughing under his breath.

"Chief Swan will see you now," Charlie's secretary said. She gestured into the office.

"Thank you," Edward and I said in unison. We both got up and he held the door open for me.

"Dad." I said as I sat down.

"Charlie." Edward sat down in the chair beside me.

"What can I do for you two?" He finished up his paperwork and finally looked up at us.

We both leaned forward, folding our hands in front of us.

"We have a proposition for you." I said smiling.

"Okay?" Charlie sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. He was going to love this.

"You still want me to work here right?"

"Right."

"So I will, on one condition."

"And that is?" He started tapping his pen on his desk.

"We're a package deal." I nodded towards Edward.

"You want her?" Edward pointed at me.

"You're getting him too," I said.

"Now guys I can't…I don't have that type of power."

"Bullshit Dad."

"What?"

"Bull. Shit."

"You pretty much run this place Charlie. We know you can make it happen." Edward laughed. "I don't want to spend another minute away from Bella. So if you want her to be here then you better make a spot for me too." He put his feet up on Charlie's desk. "And I'll take that Detective title as well."

"Watch it bub." Charlie said through his teeth. His eyes went between the both of us several times. "Fine. Anything else I can do you for today?" His voice was mocking.

"Yeah." I said. I smiled in Edward's direction. "I want him as my partner."

* * *

**Updated A/N: The sequel to this story, Domestic Disturbance, was pulled from ff for having "bitch fit" in the summary . There is a link to the story file on my profile at the top. Thank you!**


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